Shades of the Past
by Bat the Wood Elf
Summary: AU, RxC. Rosette thought it would be easy to play housekeeper for an eccentric old man's long abandoned house. She didn't expect to fall in love with his dead older brother.
1. Haunted house

Disclaimer: Cat has never taken part in an illegal activity...

Rather, Cat has never made money out of doing anything illegal.

_This chapter is only partially betaed, so if there's any typos, I'll be sure to clean them up right away._

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Shades of the Past

_By Bat the Wood Elf  
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_Chapter 1 –Haunted House_

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She barely had time to get her luggage out of the car before the cabbie drove off, leaving behind a suffocating mixture of dust and carbon monoxide. 

"Thanks. No really, thanks a lot." Rosette coughed as she waved a hand in front of her face. The cabby's crap attitude was a welcome distraction from the house, which was in worse condition than the pictures had suggested. She held them up in front of the house for a comparison. The pictures showed an aging, yet respectable centenial home. The real thing was something else.

It was dilapidated. Rosette's heart sank at the prospect of cleaning this dump. This wasn't what she had signed up for. The house, a little too small to be called a mansion, was dark and loomed over her ominously. Its state suggested years of neglect and abandonment. The windows were boarded up in an effort to discourage vandals, not that it did much good. A lot of the windows showed evidence of being hit by projectiles, and the façade had endured years worth of spray paint. The yard was overgrown and despite their evident foliage, the shrubbery and garden looked dead, choked by weeds.

Rosette glanced at her surroundings with a halfhearted amusement. She then looked down at the pictures Mr. Black had given her. "These pictures were definitely modified. Who would have though that the old man was acquainted with Photoshop?"

At least there wouldn't be any shortage of work. And Joshua would be joining her tomorrow; so she could play the weak female card and make him most of the hard stuff. Never mind that she could easily beat him up and he knew it. Hurray for delegation.

She found the key in her bag and tried to open the main door. The lock mechanism, thankfully, was still in good condition and an audible click was heard. The door itself, on the other hand, wouldn't budge. She groaned and put her bag down. After repeatedly slamming her shoulder into it, the door finally opened easily without so much as the creak of rusty hinges. Rosette glared at it as she retrieved her luggage from outside. It made no sound as she closed it, as though it were a brand new door with newly oiled hinges. She rubbed her throbbing shoulder. It would probably be blue the next day. She allowed herself a small groan of annoyance and surveyed the room.

Like the outside of the house, the interior was in a sorry state. All the furniture was covered with graying drapes, the windows were boarded from the inside, letting little ribbons of light filter through and hit floating dust particles. Everything was covered in a thin blanket of dust and cobwebs, yet somehow managed to retain some of its former grandeur.

"In its prime, this house must have been something." Rosette muttered to herself as she fumbled though her tool case. "Too bad that must have easily been over a century ago."

An even finer example of days gone by was the manor's owner, Mr. A. Black, who was ancient in his own right. The old man had to be well into his nineties, but was a manipulative old fiend. Rosette had applied for the position of housekeeper and had somehow been suckered into restoring the whole house.

"First thing I'll do when I go back to New York is get the most expensive Thank You card I can find. Second thing I do is make Mr. Black choke on it." She sneered to herself as she pulled out her crowbar. "A little poetic justice never hurt anyone."

Rosette made her way up the creaky stairs to the second floor. Portraits lined the walls along her way, with somber looking gentlemen staring back haughtily or looking as though they were bored. The last painting caught her attention. While all the other men were dark with fair skin, the last boy had long, almost platinum blond hair tied back in a loose ponytail. She could have sworn she recognized that superior smirk from somewhere, but she just couldn't quite place it.

Rosette dumped her bag in the nearest bedroom and went back downstairs to pull off the sheets covering the antique furniture.

After that, she began attacking the boarded windows. Massive clouds of dust rose up as the boards hit the floor. By the time she reached the second room, visibility was zero, despite the newly opened windows. Coughing, Rosette escaped outside through the back door. With a sigh, she flopped down on the stone steps and enjoyed their coolness against her warm hands. The fresh air wasn't too bad either. She then flopped back and rested her sweaty back against the cool stone, closed her eyes and rested for a bit.

When she opened her eyes again, the sun was setting. She looked around, startled.

"Damn it! I didn't think it was so late. Looks like I wont have the time to clean up a bedroom for myself. Wonderful. I do so love sleeping bags."

Getting up, she stretched and heard several vertebrae crack. Wincing, Rosette rubbed her eyes groggily. She looked around to try and orient herself.

Tree. Tree. Barn. Tree. River. Black Manor. Dust cloud.

"Oh yes. That's right, I'm in cleaning hell." She muttered dryly. She glanced back at the setting sun for a bit before turning to go back inside.

However, as her hand reached for the handle, she felt a shiver go down her spine and halted mid motion. As though her body was more aware of what was going on than her psyche, she slowly turned to look at the newly un-boarded windows of the library. There, through the dirty pane of glass was the pale hue of candlelight.

Rosette didn't have any matches. Nor did she own a lighter.

Tightening her grip on her crowbar, Rosette began to evaluate her options. If she ran away right now, she would only loose her self-respect. Whoever had lit the candle might have come in though the front door that she had left open for the dust, and they would know she was there and might be prepared and dangerous. It would be in her best interests to run away.

On the other hand, no one messed with Rosette Christopher. Four out of five people who picked a fight with her had reached that consensus. The remaining 20 percent were still unconscious in a hospital. Besides, if Joshua arrived and saw her hiding in a corner, or up a tree, she would never be able to live it down. But more importantly, she hated running away.

Steeling herself, she made her way through the empty halls towards the library. Her hands were beginning to feel sweaty, so she had to adjust her grip on the crowbar a few times. The darkening sky lengthened the shadows in the house, making the newly uncovered furniture look dangerous. On her way through the house, her heart stopped beating several times when her imagination started creating movement in the shadows. Despite her earlier assertion of self-confidence, she sincerely wished that the sky would open up, and that God would lend her a 9mm. After several tense minutes in which the sky did not part, Rosette grumbled and made a rude upwards gesture before reaching for the library door. Without giving herself time to hesitate, Rosette pulled one of the doors open.

And saw nothing.

The room was dark and there was no physical signs that there had ever been a light, and by association, a person there. The light was gone. She searched the house thoroughly afterwards, but there was no evidence that there had ever been anyone other than herself there.

That night, Rosette slept crowbar in hand, with the door to her room bolted.

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_Reviews are the only known cure for procrastination. _


	2. Gifts

_**-Shades of the Past - **_

_Chapter 2 - Gifts _

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_Cat-chan doesnt own anything... yet. _

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After removing the dresser from in front of her bedroom door and doing a preliminary sweep of the perimeter, Rosette finally conceded that there was no one around. For now. She crept out into the hall, still clutching her trusty crowbar, still wishing it was a gun.

'I suppose I can always use my crowbar as a projectile if I have to,' Rosette mused.

Turns out she didn't have to. The morning was quiet, and there was no sign of any intruders. Rosette was beginning to think she imagined the candlelight coming from the library. Perhaps the dust fumes had gone to her head. However unlikely that was, it was still a possibility.

The only thing that made Rosette uneasy was that the house seemed a lot cleaner now than it had been when she went to bed. The pieces of glass from the broken windows were all in neat piles and the windows were closed. She didn't remember closing them before locking herself in the room.

She shivered a bit, but ignored the pile of glass and the closed windows. She must have done it. Who else could have cleaned that? A ghost?

Unfortunately, more dust was stirred during the day. After reopening the windows and letting the house air out for a while it was starting to lose its pungent mustiness, but it still had that unmistakable scent of an old house. Eager to get rid of the dust, Rosette started cleaning off the furniture.

"This place will smell a lot better once I start making food. I hope Joshua gets here with the appliances soon." She muttered to herself as she attacked the antiques.

Joshua was supposed to be arriving in the afternoon with a stove, fridge and a microwave for the house, all charged onto Mr. Black's plastic. Fortunately, despite the house's centennial status, it had been wired some time ago and already had some appliances.

"I can't wait to get rid of these things, they look as though they're from the 50s. And the rust… Who knew a fridge could rust?" Rosette grumbled as she scrubbed the wood harder.

"God, is it even possible to have so much dust? Isn't dust mostly made of dead human skin? You'd think that since no one has been in here for at least five years, there wouldn't be any!"

Already the sitting room, servants' quarters/ kitchen, and dining room looked better. She was attempting to clear out some cobwebs from the ceiling when someone knocked at the door. Thinking it must be Joshua, Rosette hurried over to open it.

But it wasn't Joshua. Rather, it was a middle-aged woman who thrust a cucumber into her hands and poked her head through the door to look inside the house. She didn't give Rosette the time to be insulted before she started talking.

"I see our esteemed Mr. Black has finally hired some new help. It's about time that someone young came to clean out this dump. What's your name dear?"

"Err… Rosette?" Rosette's jaw dropped when the woman simply walked into the sitting room as though she owned the place.

"That's a lovely name. I'm Katherine, but feel free to call me Kate, everyone else does. I've lived here my whole life, in the house down the street."

"Oh." Rosette wasn't feeling particularly intelligent at that moment.

"I must say that I admire your courage. Mr. Black had a hard time finding anyone to take over the old housekeeper's job, since everyone in this area knows that the house is haunted and wont set a foot near it. I think it's nonsense, but I don't like Mr. Black enough to go out of my way to help him. That man is rotten to the core, a real devil. It's probably him that summoned the evil spirits that haunt this place- not that I believe in any of that."

Rosette could only nod dumbly at the information she was being given.

"The last housekeeper was a man named Elder. He was as strange as his name, maybe stranger. He never did any work in this house other than installing the wiring and the plumbing. I'll admit that those are difficult and tedious jobs, but you'd think he would have had the time to do other things over the span of eighty years. He was still a boy when the Blacks abandoned the house."

Kate paused to inspect the newly cleaned furniture. "You're doing a very nice job Rosette. When did you arrive?"

"Just yesterday." Rosette said, a little overwhelmed.

"Really? And how do you find the barn? Still as dingy as ever?" Kate asked.

"I haven't looked at the barn yet, to be honest." Rosette said.

Kate's jaw dropped and she just stared at Rosette. "But then where did you sleep?"

"In the first room upstairs." Rosette replied, directing Kate's gaze to the stairs with her index finger.

Kate said nothing for a moment, just looked at the stairs and back at Rosette.

"You mean you slept inside the house?" Kate asked, disbelief colouring her voice.

"That's right." Rosette confirmed. "Is there something wrong?"

"The only people who sleep in this house are little boys on dares." Kate said slowly, looking at Rosette with a look of both fear and respect. "Most of them don't make it through the night. Even Elder, while he was alive, didn't sleep in the house. He was afraid of the ghosts, and slept in the barn."

"How long did Elder live here?" Rosette ventured to ask.

"Oh, at least eighty years. He must have been about five years old when Mr. Aion Black inherited the Black lands. Mr. Aion left the house with his young wife almost as soon as he inherited it and moved to San Francisco."

"Has he been back here since?"

"Once for the murder trial, and another time for his wife's burial, but other than that, he's pretty much stayed away."

Kate made a final sweep of the room before heading back to the front door.

"Don't work too hard dear, this place isn't salvageable. Elder was a man dedicated to technology and wasn't superstitious, but he used to say it wasn't unusual for things to move on their own, or candles to light themselves. He also said it wasn't unusual for a room to have cold patches, no matter how hot it was outside. Regardless of his perverted habits, Elder was an honest man and most people around here believed him. So if you ever feel nervous or threatened, my door is always open to you. Come over whenever you like. And enjoy the cucumber, it's from my garden."

And Kate was gone. Leaving Rosette clutching a cucumber in the middle of the sitting room of a haunted house.

The phone rang.

Rosette nearly jumped out of her skin, but quickly realised it was her own phone and dove to answer it.

"Hello?" Rosette's voice was slightly shaky, almost expecting to be scripted into the part of the dumb blond in those horror movies. You know, the ones that always ran up the stairs when the killer phoned them from the same house.

"Hey Rosette! How are you doing? What does the house look like?" Joshua's familiar voice said on the other line.

Rosette sighed in relief. 'This is what happens when you listen to the town gossip. You become afraid of your own shadow.'

"Hi Joshua. I'm fine. The house is a dump."

"I thought so, the deal was almost too good to be true. I mean, why else would he not charge you rent and give you free reign of his credit card?"

Rosette gave a small laugh. "You're right. I wish you were here to see my face when I realised the old geezer had Photoshopped those images!"

"It must have been something!" Joshua laughed.

"Yeah, I was ready to kill someone."

"I'm sure you were." Joshua chuckled.

"The town gossip just left. That woman just waltzed right into the house, told me the house was haunted, that a murder had happened here, gave me a cucumber and left. Maybe not in that particular order, but you get the idea." Rosette said, rubbing her temples.

"Could be worse. At least you got a cucumber." Joshua stated with an almost audible smile.

Rosette was starting to get suspicious. "What's with the small talk? This isn't like you Joshua." Then it dawned on her. "Why aren't you here yet?"

Joshua laughed nervously on the other end of the line. "Please don't kill me."

"Depends if I like what I hear or not, you coward." Rosette teased.

"Well, I got into the college that I wanted to get into Rosette."

"That's great!" Rosette cried out, nearly dropping the phone. "You're just a step away from med school!"

"Yeah, but that means I wont be able to help you out." Joshua said. "And last night everyone threw a party for me…"

"So what you're telling me is that I have no appliances or food because you and your friends got smashed last night and were too hung over to get your ass down here today." Rosette said, her expression darkening.

"Well, that's a rather harsh way of saying it Rosette. It's more like we were slightly inebriated after the festivities and were not going to be able to fully assist you in your endeavours." Joshua stated seriously, taking advantage of the fact that he was far, far away from his sister and her explosive temper.

"If you aren't here tomorrow afternoon, I'll make sure that you and your drinking buddies are so mangled that you'll have to inject your alcohol through an iv!" Rosette yelled at her cell phone.

Joshua, used to being the victim of his sister's outbursts just laughed. "You're just upset that you're there by yourself."

"Of course I'm upset that I'm here by myself! How the hell am I going to get this place cleaned up in time for Mr. Black's visit?" Rosette sank into the dusty couch.

"Why don't you hire someone?"

"According to Miss Kate, everyone around here thinks this house is haunted. I think my chances of finding someone to replace you are pretty slim, don't you think?"

"I'm sure there's some brave soul out there who is willing to be paid to spend time with a lovely blonde." Joshua smirked almost audibly.

"Oh shove it Joshua." Rosette growled back at him.

Joshua had the nerve to start openly laughing at her over the phone. Nostrils flaring, Rosette glared at her laughing cell phone and pressed the off button.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Just wait until you get here." Rosette threw down her phone.

As she was getting up off the couch, she thought she saw something move in her peripheral vision. Her head snapped towards the movement, and without really thinking, she got up and looked out into the hall. It was getting dark outside, so she shrugged it off as her imagination making the shadows move. Just to be certain though, she stepped out into the main entrance and looked up the stairs. There was nothing there, but nonetheless, the silence was beginning to suffocate her and she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

Rosette walked back over to the sitting room and placed her phone in her pocket. She was beginning to regret hanging up on Joshua. She was tempted to phone him back just to hear his voice, even if it was to have him laugh at her again. With a sigh, she picked up a mop and started cleaning the floors. The room was almost perfect. The broken glass that had been mysteriously placed in a pile was thrown out, all the furniture and trinkets were dusted, and the curtains had been taken down to have the dust beaten out of them. All she had left to do was vacuum the couches. So she focused only on mopping the wood floors, and ignored the shadows that lay beyond her vision.

It would be another long night.

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_Joshua and Chrno come along in the next chapter. Reviews are great motivators you know, the more I get, the more I tend to write. So if you like the fic so far, or if there are any changes I should make, like chapter length for example, please let me know by leaving a review!_

_Review! _


	3. Chrono

**_Shades of the Past_**

_By Bat the Wood Elf  
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_AN: I debated for a while as to whether I should use Chrno, which is in fact the real name the author intended, or whether I should use Chrono. I finally, against my better judgement decided to use Chrono, not because this is what the American version calls him, but rather because I can't rationalize how his wealthy parents could have possibly left a typo in his name._

_I'm also thrilled by the reviews I got. Thank you everyone! I agree, my chapters do tend to be rather short. I'll try to lengthen them without making people wait too long for the next instalment…its so hard though! I was about to cut off this chapter at the divider, but then I remembered that I was supposed to make the chapters longer. ;;

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**Chapter 3 – Chrono

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"Now where did I put that mop?" Rosette muttered to herself as she searched around the house for her mop. It was only her second day in the manor, and already she was used to things moving on their own.

Kate was probably right. The house was haunted.

It sent a chill down Rosette's spine, but she had to deal with it. It wasn't so bad, really. There was no cryptic messages or blood on the wall. No, 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever!' or anything. The worst thing that had happened was that the broken glass had been swept into a pile. Oou. Scary.

She had left the windows open again just to see if they would be closed when she woke up the next morning. They were. And now she couldn't find her mop.

"Just because I don't know where the hell I put it, doesn't mean someone else moved it," Rosette chided herself.

There was no use getting paranoid. She had taken a look at the barn which Elder used to sleep in and confirmed that it was not fit for a human to live in. Despite the rundown state of the house itself, the barn was even worse.

Elder had to be pretty damn afraid to be willing to sleep there.

Rosette had been tempted, but the weak part of her, the one with the unmistakably feminine voice, yearned for the creature comforts the house had to offer. Like electricity. Running water. And only a limited number of vermin.

Rosette was anxiously looking at the various clocks within the house as she searched it for her mop. Joshua should be arriving any minute, and after she punched him for making her wait so long, she was going to make him and his friends install the new appliances so that she could clean some linen.

"And once the linen is clean, I'm sleeping in a bed tonight. No more sleeping bag for me." She chuckled to herself then stopped abruptly.

"I really have to stop talking to myself," Rosette said to herself. "It's not healthy."

She searched futilely for a few more minutes then sank down at the kitchen table. With her face buried in her hands, Rosette sighed.

"Why did I ever accept to do this?" She asked herself. The answer was easy of course. Because it was an easy, well paying job and she hadn't expected to be doing it alone. She would never admit it, but Rosette got along really well with her younger brother and had been looking forward to spending some time with him. But going to that college was Joshua's first step to fulfilling his of his dream of being a doctor, so she didn't resent being left to do the job alone. That didn't mean she wasn't going to be terribly lonely.

With a sigh, Rosette looked out the window and admired the land surrounding the Black manor. There was a garden, or rather, what used to be a garden, that stretched from the back of the house and down a little incline. Past the stone steps leading down away from the house, there was a little river with a tree hanging over it. Despite its foliage, the tree looked as dead as the rest of the manor. It was gnarled and its branches jutted out at odd angles. Someone had put an axe to it, that much was visible even from Rosette's distance. There was a large chunk of its trunk missing, but whoever wanted to cut it down had failed since the tree seemed to defy gravity and remain standing. And it was pretty far away, so she couldn't be sure, but Rosette thought she saw something in the tree.

There was a knock at the front door. Rosette was awoken from her reverie and shook her head to clear it up.

"I'm seeing shadows everywhere these days." Rosette murmured. "It's probably just a cat or something."

She glanced at the tree again, but the form she had seen earlier was still there. She frowned, but decided to ignore it since Joshua was getting impatient and his knocking was getting louder. Other hands started joining in, obviously trying to be obnoxious.

"I'm coming!" Rosette yelled out, but the insistent knocking didn't stop.

She marched over to the front door and yanked it open. She was greeted by Joshua's grinning face. He and his friends had their hands poised to keep knocking, which they dropped quickly when they saw the murderous expression on Rosette's face.

"You were supposed to get here two hours ago!" Rosette yelled, waving a fist at Joshua.

Joshua made placating gestures. "I'm sorry Rosette! We'll make it up to you. Look! We brought you some groceries to atone."

"Yeah, look Rosette! We even have the fridge and the washer-dryer for you!" One of Joshua's friends piped in. He hid behind her brother's back when Rosette focused her glare on him.

"You guys better stay long enough to install everything." Rosette looked around Joshua to see the truck that they had rented. Some of the boys were already laying down the platform and were taking out the stove.

"Don't worry so much Rosette. We'll be staying for supper, we brought pizza!" Joshua laughed.

"Install the washer and dryer first, I want to do some laundry." Rosette instructed the boys as they hauled in the shinny new appliances.

"Where's the laundry room?" Billy grunted from behind the dryer.

"It's in the kitchen closet. You better take out the old ones first," Rosette replied, guiding her brother's friends towards the kitchen.

Billy nodded and got to work while Joshua came up and hugged his sister.

"Weird place for a laundry room." Joshua noted. He pretended to be hanging off of Rosette's neck like he did when he was younger, even if he was now slightly taller than her. Rosette tried shrugging him off.

"It was probably the easiest and most functional place to have it installed in this old house. The architects didn't exactly draw the plans with electrical appliances in mind. Get off Joshua!" Joshua chuckled and let Rosette struggle to get him off a little more before letting go. He surveyed the house and whistled.

"This place is a wreck!" He exclaimed, looking up the grand staircase.

"I know." The response was dry and annoyed. "It's more than I can handle alone."

Joshua pretended he didn't hear her and kept looking into different rooms. "You really have your work cut out for you. I'm going to help the guys set up your appliances. Why don't you relax for a bit while we work Rosette? You look tired." Joshua smirked.

"You're just trying to get me out of the way," she looked at him suspiciously, "probably in case you dent a wall or something."

"You're not wrong," Joshua replied with a smile, "but you really do look like you could use a break, and it would do you some good to get outside instead of staying in here and yelling at us."

Rosette rolled her eyes, not wanting to admit she was tired. She didn't say anything when she stepped outside and slammed the back door as she left. She could almost feel Joshua's smile burning into her back, but he had the good sense not to rub any salt into the wound. He knew his sister liked to pretend she was invincible.

With a sigh, she headed down the stone steps. It was cooler outside, and she had to admit that it was nice to get out. The wind stirred her hair and she pushed a stray lock out of her face. Slowly, she made her way into the weedy garden and looked around, trying hard not to think of the work she had ahead of her.

She also ignored the activity happening inside, Billy's enraged swearing and Joshua's "Aw fuck! Rosette is going to kill me! Watch where you're going!"

She walked down the path, the muscle beneath her eye twitching, but didn't look back. Not very far away from the garden there was a small river which extended further into the Black property and disappeared into a forest. At first she thought it was an artificial river, but as she got closer she could see that despite its small size, the river was rather deep and had a strong current. She rubbed her shoulders in an effort to keep warm and just looked at the sky.

It wouldn't be so hard, living here alone. She just had to be strong and not let her imagination get carried away. She just had to stop seeing shadows in every corner like she did since Kate mentioned the house was haunted… no, even before that.

And speaking of shadows, Rosette was curious to see if there was still something in that tree. It loomed dangerously over the river, not very far from where she was standing. She walked over to it slowly, the crunching leaves beneath her feet giving fair warning of her approach. She observed the axe markings and slid her fingers over the scars.

"Someone wanted to cut you down pretty badly." Rosette murmured.

She shifted her gaze away from the mutilated trunk of the tree and looked up into the branches. There was no cat there like she had supposed earlier, but there was something dark resting on a branch. Curiosity overtook her and she used the spot where a chunk of the tree was missing as leverage to climb up into the tree. Rosette was beginning to have second thoughts when she saw that whatever the object was, it was pretty high up and on a branch that overlooked the river, but she steeled herself and kept climbing. She hadn't had much practice as a kid since the Christopher siblings had always lived in a downtown apartment, and somehow the jungle gyms in the park weren't quite the same thing as a tree.

She pulled her weight onto the branch and ignored the river beneath her. The object was just a foot or two above her. Steeling herself, she stood up and shuffled along the branch. She reached over and pulled her body onto the next branch. The object was within reach now, all she had to do was stand on her branch and reach out for it. She cautiously stood up and balanced precariously on the balls of her feet to grab whatever the object was. To her surprise, it was just a book.

"John Donne?" She murmured to herself, reading the spine. The book had been opened to a page, as though someone had been reading it. 'Someone must have been reading it', she corrected hersef mentally. 'How else would a book get in a tree?'

And it didn't look as though it was out there for very long. It must have been a trespasser who had been sitting in the tree reading earlier. What was strange was that they had gotten away without her noticing it. She looked down at the page the book was opened to. It looked like poetry.

"Go and catch a falling star," Rosette read aloud. "Get with child a mandrake root. Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the devil's foot…"

Looking back at the leather cover, Rosette shrugged. "I guess it wasn't some little brat on a dare. Kids don't read this kind of stuff."

She was about to climb down when she lost her footing.

In her panic, Rosette dropped the book. Instead of hearing a slash like she expected, she heard someone catch the book. This caught her even more off guard and she lost her grip on the tree when she tried to look down at who it was that caught it.

For a few moments when she was falling backwards, she saw the world with absolute clarity.

The person who had caught the book was a dark haired boy with even darker eyes, which were currently looking at her with a mix of shock and fear. His skin was so pale he looked like a doll, almost ethereal. And those eyes… He looked about Joshua's age, but his eyes looked older. Rosette never understood how you could know anything about someone by looking into their eyes until this moment.

He was beautiful.

That was the last conscious thought that ran through Rosette's mind as her body hit the water.

_…And find  
What wind  
Serves to advance an honest mind._

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The world was black.

Urgh. No, it was black with white pulsating dots.

Rosette tried to open her eyes, but the light was blinding. So she settled for letting out a groan and closing her eyes again. She was in a bed and the sheets were warm. It would be so easy just to go back to sleep…

"She's waking up!" She heard a familiar voice call out. Must be Billy. "Someone go get Joshua!"

The pattering of feet signalled that someone was listening to the order, but she really wished they hadn't. The footfall was magnified tenfold by her pounding head, and any thought of sleep would have to be pushed away.

"Rosette! Rosette, are you awake?" Joshua cried out, shaking her roughly.

"I am now." She grumbled, using all her strength to slap his hand away. Instead of backing off like he normally would have done, Joshua threw his arms around her and held her tight.

"I was so worried… You could have died! What on earth possessed you to go for a swim you idiot!" Joshua's voice was muffled by her pillow.

"I fell." Rosette said simply, as though she were piecing together what happened while she was saying it.

"It's a good thing you managed to get out of that river, even though it's pretty deep where the manor is, if you hadn't gotten out you would have been killed by the rocks for sure!" Rosette realised her brother was crying and several of his friends were in the doorway, looking on. There was also another person in the room, but Rosette didn't have the energy to turn her head to see who it was.

"I'm fine Joshua." Rosette murmured, wishing he would just get off of her. "I guess that boy must have saved me."

Joshua looked up from her shoulder. "Huh? What boy?"

"The one that was standing on the riverside." Rosette replied slowly.

Joshua shared a glance with his friends. "There wasn't anyone else there when we got to you Rosette. You must have swum to the shore on your own."

Rosette shook her head despite the pain it caused her. "That can't be right, there was a boy there, and he was reading poetry. He must have saved me Joshua, because I don't remember anything after falling in."

Joshua's brows furrowed with worry. "You must have hit your head harder than we thought."

He looked at Billy who mouthed 'Poetry?' with a bewildered expression, then back to Rosette. He grimaced. "A lot harder than we thought."

"I'm not crazy, I know what I saw!" Rosette raised her voice, but groaned at the surge of pain it caused her throbbing head.

"We'll be right back after we get a doctor, don't go to sleep Rosette, you might have a concussion." Joshua said as he headed out of the hospital room with Billy. Rosette picked up a plastic cup of Jell-O that was on the table next to her and threw it at her retreating brother.

She could hear Billy's laughter from outside the door. "Your sister is scary even in a hospital bed!"

"And here I am wondering why she doesn't have a boyfriend." Joshua sighed. Rosette's hand twitched. He probably thought she hadn't heard that the little…

"Rosette Christopher."

The voice came from within the room. She turned towards the window and saw that Mr Aion Black was sitting in a chair near an impressive vase of flowers. Realising that he must have seen and heard everything during her little spectacle, she flushed.

"Mr Black." She replied in what she hoped was a respectful tone. Oh yes. Things were getting better and better. First she falls in a river and nearly dies, her brother thinks she's crazy, and now her favourite employer was here to express his contempt. Wonderful.

"I couldn't help but overhear your discussion with your charming brother." The sneer on his face let her know he thought her brother was anything but charming. "You were saying you saw a boy before your… unfortunate accident?"

"That's right." Rosette replied tightly. 'God, all I want to do is sleep, not deal with him.' She thought.

"Can you describe him to me?"

Rosette was surprised by his request. He wasn't going to mock her, call her an empty headed blonde or a poor excuse for a fish? No biting comments? No witty and sarcastic put-downs? Had the old man reformed himself since the last time she saw him?

'That would be asking for too much. He's probably hoping to have me declared clinically insane so that I can't sue him for damages or anything.' Rosette thought to herself cynically.

"It happened pretty fast, I'm not sure what I saw."

"Just describe him to the best of your abilities." The old man glared at her.

Rosette refused to squirm under that glare so she gazed out the window as she recollected the moments after her fall.

"He looked about Joshua's age. Maybe seventeen or eighteen, had dark hair and pale skin. That's about all I can remember." Rosette stated tersely, a little put-off that she had to put into words the handsomest boy she had ever seen and describe him to a snarky old man.

"What else. What was he wearing?" Aion pressed.

"I don't remember… maybe a white shirt." Rosette replied, trying her hardest to hold on to the fading image.

"What length was his hair?"

"I don't know. I really can't remember. Do you know this person Mr Black?" Rosette inquired, feeling drained.

Aion ignored her. "You said he was reading poetry. What kind of poetry?"

Rosette groaned in frustration, but Aion didn't move from his spot in the chair and waited for her answer. Didn't this man realise she was in a hospital bed? Couldn't he save the inquisition for another time?

"It was a leather bound book, it looked like it came from the library." She muttered.

"That's not what I asked you foolish girl!" Aion snapped at her. Ah, there we go. He had been civil for way too long during this conversation. The crotchety old man couldn't possibly be that nice, even if she did almost die.

"Who was the author? Was it Shelley? Keats? Wordsworth even?"

"I can't remember…" Rosette groaned. Her headache was splitting her head apart.

"Byron? Coleridge? Browning? Think girl!" The old man snapped.

"I can't remember, alright!" Rosette cried out, turning over so she was lay facing away from him.

"I'll keep naming them if I have to! Listen up girl, I'm not done with you yet!" Aion was getting up from his chair.

"Done." Rosette murmured to herself.

"Are you listening to me? Or has all that blonde dye addled your ears as well as your brain?"

"Donne. He was reading Donne." Rosette replied wearily.

This seemed to stop the old man in his tracks.

"Are you certain?" He asked, sounding suddenly like the weary old man he was.

"Yes. It was open to a poem about a star and a devil's foot when I found the book." Rosette's heavy eyes closed without permission. 'The devil was probably you,' she added mentally as an afterthought.

But Mr Aion Black was silent and simply stared out the window over the flowers in the vase. He fingered a white lily that was surrounded by other brighter and more lively looking flowers. His old wrinkly and arthritic fingers clenched and he drew in a long breath.

"I'll expect you to get back to work as soon as this poor excuse of a hospital releases you. Don't be tardy, and I don't want to hear about any more idiotic stunts that you have the foolishness to perform. Get back to work and have the house ready for my return instead of falling out of trees!" Aion ground out and then left at a decent pace for someone his age.

Joshua, who was returning with a doctor, jumped out of the old man's way.

"I see you got to talk to Mr Personality, eh Rosette?" Joshua snickered, but glanced at his sister worriedly when he got no response.

Rosette was fast asleep. She had drifted off towards the end of Aion's lecture, being overcome by exhaustion. Her muddled mind didn't register that it would have been impossible for Aion to know that she had fallen out of the tree, since she hadn't mentioned it to Joshua, or anyone at all for that matter.

* * *

Wow! I didn't think I would get this up tonight! But people reviewed, and I was motivated to post something as soon as possible.

Ok, so I guess I lied. There was more of Aion than of Chrono in this chapter, but hey, what can I say. Old man Black had to be brought in at some point.

In the meantime, please review! Let me know what you think! If I get enough reviews, I might try and post the next chapter before the end of the week.

So please review!


	4. The One Who Lives Outside of Time

Hello everybody!

Audience: Hiya Dr Nick!

Cat: Sorry about the delay! I got over a writer's block and survived midterms, so here's the next chapter!

I have read the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, and initially I was going to have some similarities to that plot, but a review made me change my mind. I hope I succeed in making it different so that it stays original and interesting. Please let me know what you think!

And yes Jenna-chyan, the poem is the same as for Howl's Moving Castle. No other similarities to that story though, but, like Alea Seikou-san mentioned, we'll have to see if our poetry aficionado finds a 'woman fair and true'.

* * *

_Shades of the Past_

_**Chapter 4 – The One Who Lives Outside of Time**_

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready to go home?" Joshua asked for the third time.

Rosette glared at him from the passenger seat of the car. She waited two full windshield wiper swipes before deigning that question with a response. "Another visit from mister personality and I'll be arrested for murder."

They were driving down the desolate country road back to the Black estate, with rain pelting down on the car. The windshield wipers were louder than the radio, and the trees were just blurs on either side of the car.

"Come on Rosette, Mr. Black isn't that bad." Joshua replied. "He's just old. And they haven't marketed a prescription for sadism yet."

"It'll take a lot more than a prescription to take care of that old man's superiority complex. And if he's 'not that bad', how come you always hide whenever you see him coming?" Rosette cocked her head to the side.

"I didn't hide! I was in the same room as him for four whole minutes when you woke up!" Joshua replied, indignant.

"Gee. Four whole minutes. How dare I suggest that you're a coward when you stayed in the room four whole minutes."

"That's enough lip from you, invalid." Joshua shot back.

There was a comfortable silence between the two siblings, which was only broken by the rapid windshield wiper swipes. But after a few minutes of relative quietness, it became obvious to Rosette that Joshua was trying to gather the courage necessary to say something.

Most likely something she wouldn't like. She could tell he was anxious by the way his brow creased and by the unconscious tightening and relaxing of his grip on the steering wheel. Watching her brother's quiet deliberations, Rosette knew very well what he wanted to bring up wasn't going to please her.

"I've been thinking Rosette… maybe you should come home. And if you don't want to go home, I'll stay with you. I don't want you to live here alone." Joshua said, never once glancing away from the road.

"No."

Now he did look away from the road. "Why not?"

"Keep your eyes on the road Joshua." Rosette admonished calmly. "Wouldn't want you to swerve into a ditch."

"Don't change the subject Rosette, you nearly drowned! I can't leave you alone in that house!" Joshua continued, grip on the wheel tighter than ever.

She had to give her brother some credit. It took some nerve to try to boss her around. When they were younger, Joshua quickly learned that defying his sister wasn't worth the bruises.

"And where will I go? With you?"

"Yes! You can try and find a place near my school. Or if you don't like that idea, you can always go back home."

"And do what Joshua?" Rosette shot back.

"I don't know Rosette… we'll figure something out. Quit this job, you can find another one easily." Joshua said quietly.

Rosette couldn't believe it. He made it sound easy, but it wasn't. She couldn't go back, not when she had found such a great job. She had no supervisor breathing down her neck, no rent to pay, and free reign of a Visa. Was Joshua on crack? How could she possibly find a better job?

"You know I wont. No one hires someone with only a high school degree for above minimum wage." Rosette thought of her former job at a Seven Eleven.

"Wouldn't it be better than staying here alone in the middle of nowhere? With rats?" Joshua argued. "And don't pretend there aren't any, I saw what was behind the fridge."

"Yeah, I need to get traps for those."

"Is that all you're going to say?"

"Yes. Now stop nagging. I'm not quitting this job, and you're going to school."

Joshua deflated visibly. He was well meaning, to the point that Rosette wasn't annoyed with him for trying to run her life. Well, maybe a little. But, she had to remind herself, Joshua never argued without a reason. He was worried about her.

She was touched, but at the same time wished he would stop being an idiot. Realistically, there was no difference between being alone in the countryside and alone in New York City. At least here she had some cows to keep her company. She loved her brother, but sometimes he drove her nuts.

Joshua tended to live in a different world than hers: he was slightly disconnected from reality. When it came to equations and theory, there was no one smarter, or more efficient. Book smarts, Joshua had in abundance. But he was an idealist. He always tried to make the most of every situation, never took in monetary factors, and was eternally optimistic. Rosette was more of a realist. She was almost a Huck Finn to Joshua's Tom Sawyer. To her, common sense also counted for something.

And Joshua didn't have much of it.

"I just don't like the idea of you staying there alone." Joshua insisted.

"I'm not alone. I've got the town gossip hanging around, as well as my wonderful employer. And if I'm lucky, maybe I'll find the guy who saved me."

Joshua's face was hard. "There wasn't anybody there Rosette."

"There must have been, I didn't hallucinate, and I'm not romantic enough to fabricate a story about being saved by Tall, Dark and Handsome. If I were to make something up, I would have claimed that I saved myself." Rosette admitted. "Besides, Mr. Black seemed to know exactly who I was talking about."

"That old man gives me the creeps." Joshua punctuated that feeling with a shudder.

"You and everybody else. But Mr. Black described the guy perfectly, it's like he already knew him… like he expected the guy to be there. So I think it must be a kid from the town, and he must have run off after saving me."

"Why would he do that? Normally people would wait to see if the drowning victim is alright, or if medical help is on the way. If there really were a guy that saved you, why wouldn't he have stayed? You were unconscious, it could have taken hours before I found you."

Rosette rubbed her temples. "I don't know, maybe he was afraid he would get caught for trespassing?"

They had finally reached the house, and so Joshua brought the car to a stop near the front porch and looked out the car window with yet another sigh. "This weather is awful. I really don't want to step outside."

"Then dont. You still haven't told me how Mr. Black knew I was in the hospital." Rosette replied.

"I've reconsidered, the weather is just lovely!" Joshua exclaimed and made for the door. Rosette just grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Why are you running away?"

"I don't know how he knew you would be in the hospital."

"You mean you didn't call him?" Rosette exclaimed.

"No. It wasn't me."

"That's strange… and doesn't Mr Black live in San Francisco?" Rosette leaned back into the seat, crossing her arms against her chest when she was sure Joshua wasn't going to make a run for it.

"One of his aides told me he was visiting some relatives here."

"Ok, so he was already in New York State. But the news of my hospitalization couldn't possibly have travelled that fast. I was only out of it for a few hours, and there's no way information could have gotten around to him through other people, no matter how many people Kate told."

"Someone must have phoned him. It's no big deal Rosette." Joshua sighed.

Rosette furrowed her brows. Why did Joshua want to drop the subject so quickly?

"If it wasn't you, it must have been that boy!" She exclaimed, realisation dawning on her.

"Where would he have phoned from?" Joshua argued, being practical for once.

"Everyone has cell phones these days, even people from small towns. That must be why there wasn't anyone there, my saviour must have been phoning for help!"

"Whatever you say Rosette. Can we go inside now?"

"No, not until you admit I'm right!"

"You're right."

"Don't say it that easily! Admit it, you thought I was crazy!"

"Maybe you and Mr Aion are both crazy."

Rosette rolled her eyes. Joshua took this as an indication that he was allowed to get out of the car, so he took his keys out of the ignition and quickly ran over to the porch to get out of the rain.

Rosette leaned back into her seat and just stared at the house. It was hard to believe that she had argued to stay in this old dilapidated thing. Through the waves of rain sliding down the windshield, the old manor looked even more sinister.

And here the job had seemed to have only advantages. She had forgotten to factor in the creepiness to the house.

"I'm convinced this place is haunted." Rosette muttered, scrutinizing the house though the hazy windshield, almost expecting to see a light hovering from window to window. But there was nothing but darkness, and the windows stared back at her with their empty sockets. She shivered, suddenly uneasy. Never had she felt weary about the house like this before. Sure, there had been the fear she had felt when she realised that things were being cleaned up on their own, that someone other than herself was closing windows at night.

But somehow, that fear didn't match up to what she was feeling right now. Awareness of death overwhelmed her senses. Her heart tightened and she concentrated on taking deep breaths and making her tense shoulders loosens. She didn't understand the dread she was suddenly feeling. It was as if the house had two feelings to it, two distinct personalities.

One personality closed windows for her, and the other that was watching her every move.

It was unnerving to say the least.

* * *

Joshua's coddling had become unbearable, but Rosette bore it with grace. Despite his earlier concessions, he had spent the rest of the evening trying to convince Rosette to let Billy come stay with her to keep her company. Rosette was torn between thinking it was cute that Joshua was trying to set his friend up with his sister, and thinking that having Billy hang around was the last thing she wanted. But arguing had made her feel better, and she had completely forgotten her earlier panic attack.

She had cleaned out a room adjacent to hers for Joshua. Thanks to her new washer and dryer, the linens were clean within two hours, and she left Joshua to fend for himself while she went to bed.

Her bed was nice and clean, but the room was musty, so Rosette opened the window, with some difficulty, before going to bed. The curtain moved erratically in the night air, but she ignored it by turning around to face away from the window.

It was halfway through the night that the cold woke her up. She was curled as tightly as possible into a ball, but it didn't seem to make a difference. She wasn't awake enough yet for the thought of getting up to close the windows to cross her mind.

It was in that state, halfway between awake and asleep that Rosette heard the windows being closed. Groggily, she tried to thank Joshua, but when her hazy vision turned towards the person standing near the window, even in her half asleep state, she knew it wasn't her brother. But for some odd reason, this didn't alarm her.

"Go back to sleep." The dark haired boy said quietly. "We'll talk tomorrow."

The whole situation should have been alarming. Here was a strange boy, in her bedroom in the middle of the night, who got into the house god knows how. Yet despite all logic, Rosette did exactly what he asked. She went back to sleep without a second thought.

Years later, she would wonder why she did what the stranger asked, since it was not only illogical, but also completely against her character not to put up a fight. The only reason she could come up with was that his voice inspired confidence. He had the voice of someone much older, one that was responsible and comforting. For Rosette, who had long since lost her parents, he sounded like someone you could put your trust in. If she had been of the poetic tendency, she might have said he was a lighthouse to her boat on stormy waters. He sounded like home. But Rosette wasn't poetically inclined, and so was never able to articulate why those words were so soothing to her sluggish mind.

When Rosette opened her eyes again, sun was streaming though the closed windows, and the house smelt of burnt toast. She was tempted to stay in bed, but knew that it was dangerous to leave her brother unattended. So she got up out of bed and got dressed. Without glancing at the window, of course.

She padded down the stairs, past all the sombre painting of dark haired men. She took a moment to study them a little more closely. The last one, with the platinum blonde hair was definitely Aion Black. She didn't need to read the nameplate to figure that one out. But he looked radically different from the Mr. Black she had seen in her hospital room, and it wasn't just the age.

For some reason, she felt like this Aion, the one in the painting, was ten times harder than the one she knew. Even though he was smirking, his eyes were hard, almost bitter. It was hard to believe, but if the painter had captured Mr. Black accurately, than that would mean that he mellowed over time.

"Scary thought." Rosette muttered to herself. The boy next to Aion caught her attention. His pale face was frozen in a serious expression, and he looked slightly older than Aion. Like the rest of the paintings, he was dark-haired and had dark eyes. She felt a surge of familiarity when she looked at the young man's emotionless face, and knew she had seen it before. That was impossible though. The nameplate below the painting labelled him as Chrono Black, AD1913-1930.

"Long dead." Rosette muttered. His painting made him look dead as well. Unlike Aion's painting, in which the painter had captured the sharp eyes perfectly, this boy's eyes looked lifeless. There was no spark to them, as though they had long since resigned themselves to their fate.

The long line of Black heirs stared down at her as she reached the foot of the stairs. All of them were unnaturally handsome, and by studying their nameplates, she noticed that those who didn't die young lived an unnaturally long life. Some of the Black males lived well into their hundreds in a time when making it past seventy was spectacular.

Rosette wrinkled her nose when the smell of burnt toast intensified when she got closer to the kitchen. Only Joshua could carbonize a slice of toast. The silence of the house told her two things. One, that Joshua hadn't noticed that his breakfast was black yet, and two, that there weren't any functional smoke detectors in the house.

With a sigh, she opened the door and a few windows. Her brother was still nowhere to be seen.

"He must be in the library, that airhead." Rosette muttered to herself. She took out the blackened bread and put new slices into the toaster, making sure to adjust the intensity. Her brother had been thoughtful enough to buy jam, so when her toast came up she spread some marmalade over her breakfast. Joshua picked this time to return, with a book in hand, of course.

"Hey, that's my breakfast!" He cried out indignantly, making a swipe for the toast.

Rosette dodged and pointed out the blackened mass. "No,_ that's_ your breakfast."

Joshua looked at the burnt toast and then at the open windows before laughing sheepishly. "I guess I shouldn't have taken a look at the library."

"You must be the only person I know who can burn toast." Rosette stated between bites.

"Not true, I'm sure there's plenty of people who cant work a toaster." Joshua shot back indignantly.

Rosette wasn't going to argue that point, so she changed the subject. "What did you find?"

Joshua's face brightened immediately. "Look, I found a really old edition of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea! In French!"

"Can you even read French?" Rosette asked while chewing.

"No." Joshua said sadly. "But I'll bet there are some first edition books in there. The Blacks must have been really rich to have a collection like this!"

Joshua waved the book around animatedly. Books always did that to him. A library full of old books was as exciting to him as a candy store to a little kid. The mustier they were, the better.

"Yeah, they must have been." Rosette agreed.

"I wonder if they just had these for show or if they actually read them?" Joshua wondered, flipping reverently through the old novel.

"I doubt Aion Black read much. He doesn't seem like the intellectual type." Rosette mumbled around her toast.

Joshua nodded. "Yeah, for some reason I can't picture the old man laughing over Don Quixote with a cup of tea. He looks more of the Nietzsche type… there's some of that in the library too!"

"He wasn't always old. You should take a look at the paintings along the stairs, he was once young and handsome… not any nicer, I'm sure, but young nonetheless." Rosette polished off the last crumbs of her toasts and got up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a look at the library."

Joshua shrugged and went back to his book. "Whatever suits you sis, just don't kill your only brain cell."

He was rewarded with flying cutlery for his wit.

Rosette stomped off in a huff to the library. And slammed the door behind her when she got there.

"The nerve of that kid." She knew her brother's teasing was good-natured, but it was a little below the belt to take shots at her intelligence.

She looked up, and there, sitting on the stairs going up to the second floor of the library, was Chrono Black.

"You…" Rosette breathed out.

He looked exactly like the painting of course, except for his eyes. They weren't the lifeless ones from the painting. If Rosette hadn't known any better, she would have thought they were Aion's eyes. They had that glint of sharp intelligence that she had noticed only in Aion's painting.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well." Chrono replied with the same gentle tone that had lulled her back to sleep earlier that night. "I was worried when you wouldn't wake up, it was a good thing your brother found you."

He was talking about her near drowning, Rosette realised. And rather than being terrified that she was face to face with someone that should be dead, Rosette was relieved that she wasn't going crazy.

"What would have happened if Joshua hadn't come out?" She asked, because she didn't know what else to say. Would it be rude to ask him right out if he was dead? And if so, then what was he? A ghost? A vampire?

But then again, maybe it wasn't the same guy as in the painting. Other than Aion, all the Blacks look the same. Maybe he was someone from a younger generation.

"I wouldn't have been able to bring you to the hospital." He replied in answer to her question. "And I couldn't have asked anyone for help."

This answer brought a chill to Rosette's spine. "Why not?"

The library door opened behind her suddenly and Rosette spun around with a start.

"I'm going out to get more groceries Rosette, you want anything?" Joshua asked from the door.

Rosette looked back to the dark haired boy who was avoiding her gaze and looking out the window. Then she looked back at Joshua.

"Well?" He pressed.

"No, I don't want anything." Rosette replied, studying Joshua's face.

But her brother didn't give any indication that he thought there was anyone else in the room other than her. Chrono, or whoever he was, was in plain sight, but Joshua didn't see him. To Joshua's eyes, there was only his sister, and a bunch of books.

"Alright then, see you later." Joshua said and closed the door behind him.

Rosette's eyes were as wide as saucers. She re-evaluated the situation.

Maybe she really was going crazy.

"He was looking strait at you but didn't say anything." Rosette said accusingly. Chrono was still avoiding her gaze and looking out the window.

"He can't see me." Chrono said. "To him I don't exist."

"How is that possible? How can I see you, but Joshua can't?" Rosette walked over to where he was, and using all her courage, reached out and grabbed his arm.

She recoiled when her hand met his solid flesh. She couldn't tell if his skin was warm because she had grabbed his sleeve, but it was a shock to realise that he was substantial.

"It's complicated." Chrono said reluctantly. His black eyes were stormy.

"Why don't you explain then?" Rosette eyed him warily.

There was a little space separating them, but Rosette was acutely aware that he was slightly taller than she was. When he stepped closer and separated than distance, she was convinced she could feel his warm breath.

"Because I barely understand it myself." Chrono admitted. "But from what I _can_ understand, I've been waiting for you."

"What?" Rosette's heart gave a little start.

What girl didn't secretly hope that a handsome boy said the words that were coming out of his mouth? It was too good to be true. It was as though she was stuck in one of those cheesy teen movies. And she was enjoying it.

"I've been waiting for you, Rosette Christopher. It's been so long that I thought you wouldn't come." Chrono's dark gaze locked onto hers and all of Rosette's blood rushed to her face.

"Uh…" Was Rosette's intelligent response.

"I've been hoping you could tell me why I'm here." Chrono eyes bore into hers.

"…Huh? What? I don't know." Rosette said, bewildered. "I just got here, I don't know what you're talking about."

Chrono's expression saddened. He broke contact with Rosette's eyes and looked away. "Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you would know, since the only clue I have is your name."

"My name?" Rosette echoed.

Chrono smiled darkly. "So you don't know either. Then it looks like I'm not any closer to knowing the truth. But since you're here, that must mean that things are in motion."

He looked away from Rosette's confused expression. "Imagine being alone in this house all those years with only a name to keep you company. Yes, your arrival must signify the beginning of something. I just wish I knew what it was."

* * *

Review! Review's are like crack! 


	5. Family

AN: One of the things that really interested me about Chrno Crusade was the nature of Rosette and Chrno's relationship. In the manga, though he may look younger and act childish at times, it's when we see Chrno's demon form that we realise that he is actually much older than Rosette. I've tried to preserve that dynamic, you'll have to tell me if I've succeeded or not. In Shades, Chrono died at 17, while Rosette here is 20. Mentally, Chrono is more like 25, the age that guys today decide it might be a good idea to stop getting smashed every night. His mental age is partially due to the time period he was from, but also has to do with his personal circumstances when he was alive, which I'll elaborate on later.

All your great reviews really motivated me to get this chapter done this week. Please enjoy the show!

* * *

_Shades of the Past_

_**Chapter 5 – Family**_

* * *

Chrono was the first to move away from their almost embrace. He sat down on a leather chair and motioned for Rosette to join him. She followed silently and sat facing him, a little unnerved when the back of her hand grazed his knee unintentionally. His pants were old fashioned and the material felt rough. Her fingers flinched.

Rosette ignored the way her nervous system had shut down and forced herself to think coherent thoughts. She found that looking at the bookshelves helped greatly. Looking anywhere but those dark eyes helped. He was still staring at her intently and it was unnerving.

"So you're the one who's been closing windows at night."

"Yes." Was his simple reply. His voice was clear and almost solemn.

"Why?" She asked, gathering the courage to look at his face. His dark eyes locked onto hers and she shivered. He looked quiet and relaxed, but from his eyes Rosette could tell that inside him there was a storm raging. How could she have once thought those eyes looked dead? They weren't hard and cold like Aion's, but rather hinted at suppressed warmth. They were far from being lifeless…the painter just hadn't been skilled enough.

"I didn't want you to get cold. The temperature drops at night."

"What about you?" Rosette asked. "Don't you get cold?"

Chrono looked a little startled by the question. Mentally, Rosette was hitting herself for her lack to tact. 'Sure, just remind him that he's dead why don't you? It's probably a sore spot for him.' But Chrono didn't get upset. Rosette supposed that he had accepted that he was dead a long time ago, because instead of frowning like she expected him to, he gave her a half-smile.

"Yes, I do. My body remembers what it feels like to feel differences in temperature."

At Rosette's shocked and perplexed expression, Chrono eyes closed and his lips twisted into a bitter smile.

"I suppose you're wondering what I am."

"The thought had never occurred to me." Rosette deadpanned. This got a little chuckle out of Chrono, which softened his expression considerably.

"I'm sorry. After a few decades I gave up on the idea that someone might be able to see me, and subsequently I've forgotten the scenario I thought up for the occasion. You'll have to bear with me."

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Rosette focussed her attention on his lips, which parted reluctantly to let out a sigh. She was a little surprised to realise that he was breathing, his chest moving regularly with every intake of air. And she was willing to bet anything that behind that old-fashioned button down shirt there was a heart that beat as strongly as her own. He looked so solid, so alive. How could it be that Chrono was so tangible to her, while Joshua couldn't even see him?

"I suppose I should make it clear from the beginning that I'm not Chrono Black." He announced finally, sitting back against the chair.

Rosette blinked. "Huh? How is that possible? You look exactly like the painting! Are you his son or something? A distant cousin?"

"No, that's not it." Chrono sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His expression was still stoic, but the storm raged a little more closely to the surface. What he was telling her evidently troubled him greatly. "I am Chrono Black, but at the same time, I'm not. My existence only began when he died."

"So you're a ghost?"

Chrono shook his head. "No. Not quite. I'm sorry, I'm not explaining this properly."

He paused to collect his thoughts. Rosette decided not to disturb his despite having quite a few questions to ask. He looked as though he were lost in thought, and had a hand covering the lower half of his face distractedly.

Finally, the hand lowered. "The Blacks are peculiar. Some people claim they have demon heritage… It's hard to explain since I don't understand much of it myself. However, I'm not a ghost since people generally agree that ghosts are the remains of a human soul. I'm not a soul: I'm a memory. More substantial than a soul, but at the same time, less."

"What does that mean?" Rosette asked, mentally trying to piece together what he was telling her.

Chrono looked up at her. "Most people can't see me. I can't change their environment or interact with them. Then, to some people, perhaps those who have a very clear memory of Chrono, the illusion is such that I'm alive."

Rosette nodded slowly. "Is that why Joshua couldn't see you?"

Chrono inclined his head in affirmation.

"But then, why can I see you?" She frowned. "What's the difference between me and my brother? I couldn't have possibly known you when you were alive, I wasn't even born yet!"

"I know. You're right." He was looking at her intently. "But I have known your name for eighty years. Even before he died, Chrono Black knew who you were. That must count for something. There must be something more there."

Rosette shivered. The wind was picking up outside, and even though all the windows were closed the room was still cold. Or maybe she was just imagining the cold. She wanted to ask Chrono if he could feel it too but stopped herself. Instead she rubbed her arms absentmindedly.

The telltale movement wasn't lost on Chrono. He leaned forward and slid off his jacket, then wordlessly handed it to her. Rosette bashfully accepted it, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was still warm when she put it on.

Chrono smiled when she curled up inside his jacket. It was slightly oversized, but it pleased him to be able to do something for her. He had forgotten what it was like to take care of someone, and found that it was very easy for him to fall back into old habits established during his lifetime.

"Tell me about the people who can't see you. What if you were to move an object in front of them?" Rosette asked.

Chrono shook his head. "To them I don't exist. They can't see any actions I make."

"So then even if you were to turn the lights on and off, Joshua wouldn't notice?" Rosette asked, taken aback.

"No. But that example is irrelevant since I can't change the lights." Chrono said.

Rosette looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean you can't flick on a light switch? How is that possible? Everyone can turn a light on."

"I can only do things I did when I was alive." Chrono explained calmly. "I'm actually quite fortunate that this house is still standing. I can move around in it freely. But we didn't have electricity back then, and I never strayed very far from the Black Manor, so my actions are limited."

Rosette looked around the library. It had been wired at the same time as the rest of the house so there were a few light switches here and there. But there were also old oil lamps scattered around in several corners, and the dusty chandelier above them had candles between the cobwebs.

"So then I guess you can't touch any modern appliances." Rosette finally said.

"There are a few exceptions." Chrono admitted. "I can touch the fridge and the stove since they closely resemble an icebox and a woodstove. However, my hand goes right through the toaster, so I didn't bother trying to salvage Joshua's breakfast."

There was a small smile on Chrono's lips when Rosette groaned at the memory.

"That reminds me, Joshua should be home soon with the groceries." Rosette said to more to herself than to the boy in front of her. "But while we're still on the subject though, what else can't you do?"

"To be honest, I'm still not completely aware of my own limitations." Chrono murmured.

"You had plenty of time to figure it out though." Rosette pointed out.

"That's true." Chrono conceded, obviously not one to argue.

He sat silently across from her and Rosette was struck by his composure. He didn't look older than eighteen, yet he had none of the gangly awkwardness that characterized today's youths. He spoke slowly and carefully, with an authority that some people never achieved. But he was serious, and his smiles were subdued, never reaching his eyes. Rosette got the impression that he was used to smiling to reassure the person he was talking to rather than out of genuine happiness. It was strange to see someone his age with so much maturity. It was as if he had never been a child.

Spontaneously, Rosette reached out and touched his cheek. She didn't know why she did it; she didn't have a habit of touching strange men. There was just the gut feeling that she knew instinctively: Chrono was lonely. He wouldn't mind.

His skin was as warm and pliant as anyone else's.

Chrono looked at her through a hooded gaze that sent shivers up her spine despite having his jacket on. If the gesture was too intimate for him, he didn't say so, nor did he pull away. Instead he closed his eyes, and let her touch his cheek. She was relieved that he wasn't looking at her, since she knew all her blood was rushing to her face. She could also think a little more clearly without his intense gaze drawing her in. Did he know how attractive he was? Everything about him radiated calm, made her want to put her trust in him.

His lips moved as though he was going to say something, but he didn't get the chance. Rosette jerked her hand away as though she had been burned when she heard the front door open.

"I'm back!" Joshua called out from the entrance. "You want to help me with the groceries Rosette?"

Rosette was so startled by her brother's return that she sat frozen for a few minutes, clutching her hand to her chest.Her mouth opened and closed a few times, like a goldfish's. It was as if she was dragged back to reality without any warning.

Things like this didn't happen to her. She didn't believe in either the paranormal or romantic attraction, but here it was, sitting in the leather chair across from her.

She had half expected Chrono to vanish when she blinked, but he was still there, his expression still unreadable, if somewhat more solemn since Joshua's interruption.

"You should go see your brother." Chrono murmured.

Rosette nodded. "Right."

But she didn't want to go see her brother. She wanted to touch his hair and see if it too was as soft as it looked. She wanted to learn more about him. Because he was the handsomest boy she had ever seen. Because she didn't intimidate him like she did the boys back home.

She got up reluctantly and took off his jacket, handing it back to him before heading towards the library door. Chrono's dark gaze followed her movements.

"Will you still be here later on?" Rosette asked, leaned into frame of the door. From over her shoulder she could see the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I'll be around." He said, opening a book.

* * *

Joshua watched with interest as Rosette moved around the kitchen in a daze. She would take some food and wander aimlessly from cupboard to cupboard before realizing what to with it. And once she put something away, she would stare off into space for a little bit before repeating the process.

Looks like she had fried that one brain cell.

If Joshua didn't know any better, he'd think that Rosette was daydreaming. But that was impossible. That would require having either having an imagination, or having a crush on someone, which was un-Rosette like behaviour. His sister wasn't known for being romantic. Quite the opposite. Joshua had to entertain the idea that she had gone mad.

He decided that this weirdness had to come to a stop when she sat down and stared blankly out the window. Autumn was creeping around the corner and the days were getting shorter. Already, the moon was visible in the sky despite the fact that it was broad daylight.

Rosette's vacant expression was turned towards the tress. She changed from dazed to thoughtful though, when her gaze landed on the tree by the river. It was the same tree that she had fallen from, the one that someone had put an axe to. Her brows furrowed, and her vacant expression slowly melted into one of contemplation.

Joshua put down the jar of peanut butter that he was holding and waved a hand in front of her face. He was almost grateful when Rosette slapped his hand away violently. It meant her reflexes were still in good shape. And it was a typical Rosette reaction to cause him bodily harm.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rosette growled at him.

"You were on another planet. I mean, you're always on another planet, but this time you brought up a whole space crew with you." Joshua grinned.

"You're one to talk." Rosette muttered, rolling her eyes. Then her expression turned pensive. "I was just thinking."

Joshua recoiled exaggeratedly. "You were what?" He asked, feigning shock.

"Shut up." She shoved him half-heartedly. "Enough pot-shots at my intelligence."

Joshua grinned. "So what were you thinking about?"

Rosette looked back towards the tree by the river. The axe marks looked even more vicious from a distance. "Around how old would you say Mr. Black is?"

Joshua rubbed his chin. "Easily ninety."

"So he probably would have been living here during the nineteen twenties. He would have been a teenager then." Rosette thought out loud. "And Kate mentioned that the former tenant had been here eighty years, and started taking care of it almost as soon as Mr. Black inherited it."

Rosette paused as though she were weighing out all this information. She got up and started pacing near the kitchen door, still deep in thought.

"Why are you thinking about that all of a sudden?" Joshua asked curiously.

Rosette came out of her daze and gave a small laugh. "Oh, no reason."

Joshua looked at her suspiciously but decided to drop the subject. The shrewd and thoughtful look that had flashed across Rosette's face earlier while she was thinking was something new to Joshua. He knew that his sister was strong and efficient, but he liked to think of himself as the intelligent sibling. He didn't like the feeling that Rosette knew more than she let on.

"So when is your flight leaving?" Rosette asked, leaning on the counter.

"Tomorrow afternoon." Joshua replied, ruffling his hair. "I should probably leave early morning if I want to give myself some leeway."

"That might be a good idea. Do you want me to drive you there?" Rosette asked.

Joshua's face brightened. "Would you? It would be great if you did. I'd have some company for a while, and then you could keep the car and use it if you need to."

Rosette nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

Rosette then turned to her brother. "Say, Joshua, could I have your cell phone?"

"What?" Joshua backed away from her. "Why?"

"I had mine in my pocket when I fell out of the tree." Rosette replied sheepishly.

Joshua glared at her. "Then get another one. This one is mine."

"I can't get another one, there aren't any stores around here, and it might take weeks for a new one to arrive. Please?"

Joshua's expression crumbled. "Fine. But you're buying me a new one."

"Gotcha."

"And I want your old waterlogged one." Joshua requested as he handed her his phone.

"What for?"

"Ebay." Joshua grinned fiendishly.

Rosette closed the distance between them and smacked him across the head.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?" Joshua cried out, clutching the back of his head. "I wasn't going to advertise it as _new_."

"If I catch you doing anything illegal, anything at all, I'll make you wish you had never been born." Rosette threatened, waving her finger at her brother who shrunk visibly.

Joshua nodded ardently, claiming it was a joke, he didn't mean it. Rosette pretended not to hear him and continued her tirade.

"And you better keep yourself in line while you're away. If I hear from anyone that you were out getting trashed, I'll find some new painful and humiliating way to make your life difficult." Rosette hissed. "You will be doing nothing else but studying at college. Studying very, very hard."

Joshua gave a little whimper and made a movement towards his phone. "Um… I've changed my mind, can I have my phone back?"

"And give you back your contact list? No, I think that this will be very useful." Rosette smirked and put the phone safely away in her pocket patting in appreciatively.

Joshua started crying and begging for the phone back, but Rosette ignored his cries and laughed wickedly, dangling it just out of his reach. The game continued like that for a while both taking turns kicking and screaming. After having chased each other around the kitchen a few times they reached an armistice and settled on deleting the contact list.

Chrono, who had been attracted by the noise, watched the siblings play from the hallway, unnoticed by both of them. He silently watched the spectacle. He even allowed himself a smile when Rosette caught her slightly bigger brother in a headlock, and the boy started begging for mercy.

Somewhere, in the depths of his psyche, he remembered what it was like when the Black family had resided in this house. Long ago, when his mother had been alive, he used to play with Magdalene on the grounds surrounding the manor. Then, when Aion had come to live with them, he too had joined in their games for a little while.

Chrono gave a little sigh and headed back to the library. He had a feeling he wouldn't be talking to Rosette until tomorrow.

* * *

Rosette was heading home after having driven Joshua to the airport. She was already starting to miss him, but it was comforting to know that she wouldn't be returning to an empty house. She hadn't talked to Chrono since yesterday, but she knew he was still around from the way in which the windows closed themselves.

Rosette smiled to herself, but her smiled dropped when she noticed a car parked outside the Black Manor. It was a BMW. A black BMW.

The first thought that registered in Rosette's mind was, 'I want it.'

The second was, 'I don't know anyone who owns a BMW.'

Of course, the logical progression from this line of thought was that these people were from the mafia and were here to kill her because she was the only witness to a foul and unusual crime.

It was only when the logical part of her pointed out that she had never witnessed a crime and that not all people who owned black BMWs were members of organized crime and/ or lawyers that Rosette could stop her heart from racing.

Chrono was waiting for her on the front porch, his dark hair moving in the wind. He was motionless until she parked her car and got out of it. Only then did he approach her.

"You have guests." He announced simply.

"How did they get inside?" Rosette asked,a little panicky.

"They had a key." Chrono stated calmly. "Aion must know they are visiting. Perhaps he… forgot to warn you."

Rosette said what they were both thinking. "Forgot to tell me my foot. Mr. Black doesn't 'forget' things; he just decides not to tell you. I see through his senile old man routine."

Rosette glanced back at the house. "But I don't think Aion sent them. He told me when he hired me that he had no intention of monitoring my progress or having anyone disturb me until the end of the project."

Chrono's face darkened. "Then I believe it. Aion isn't one to make false promises."

Which meant that someone had broken into her house. Rosette wanted to be girly and latch onto Chrono's arm but restrained herself. One, because it would permanently damage her self-respect and two, because if people were watching her, they wouldn't see the person she was latching onto. Instead, she steeled herself and prepared mentally for a confrontation.

She walked over to the front door, Chrono following noiselessly behind her. The door was unlocked when Rosette opened it.

A young girl of approximately fifteen was sitting in the sitting room with a cup of tea on her lap. Rosette's eye twitched when she realised the girl was not only using the china that she had just cleaned in the morning, but was also drinking her own personal stash of tea.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" were the first words out of Rosette's mouth. The girl in the chair looked up in surprise and had the grace to look meekly ashamed at the cup of tea in her lap. The maid, on the other hand, who was holding the teapot, was expressionless. A lone bodyguard stepped forward.

"Don't try me buddy, I eat guys like you for breakfast." Rosette sneered. It wasn't an empty threat, Rosette was quite used to getting into fights with people bigger than she was, and winning. None of them had been two hundred pound bodyguards, but that was beside the point.

The bodyguard, at any rate, had the good sense to back off. If he was intimidated, he didn't show it. Rather, he just stepped behind the little girl's chair.

The girl stood up, putting her tea on the side table. "I'm sorry miss, I know that we should have waited outside. Please pardon our intrusion, Fiore thought you wouldn't mind."

She could hear Chrono murmur, "She looks so much like…"

She ignored him in favour of keeping her attention on the trio in front of her. Her voice had an edge to it. "Since when is it ok to make yourself at home when you enter someone else's house unannounced?"

"Miss Azmaria is Mr. Black's granddaughter and his sole heir. This property is more hers than it is yours." Fiore replied, her face still impassive.

Rosette's fist clenched and unclenched reflexively. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"I've been cleaning this dump for the last week," she began calmly. "And you've probably never been here in your life. I don't care if Aion Black is her grandfather; you have no right to come in here unannounced. And you," Rosette glared at the maid, "if you used my white tea, I'll break your fingers."

Chrono chuckled softly behind her, accurately assessing her threats as merely tough talk. Azmaria, on the other had, looked like she was panicking.

"Fiore, please, we aren't here to pick fights." Azmaria wrenched her hands together. "Please forgive our rudeness, I realise now that I was out of line coming inside unannounced. However, I have something important I must discuss with you Ms Christopher. Fiore, Lars, please wait for me in the car, I'll be with you shortly."

Both Fiore and Lars were taken aback.

"But madam--" they protested.

"Please." Azmaria asked quietly. Lars sighed and tiptoed around Rosette to make it to the door. Fiore, on the other hand, glided stoically to the door, completely ignoring the glare Rosette sent her.

"Now that your minions have left, what is it that you want?" Rosette demanded. She felt rather than saw Chrono's amusement when he echoed the word, 'Minions?'

"I'm sorry about the disagreement. I didn't mean to intrude. However, I was very curious to hear my grandfather mention that he had hired someone to take care of this house, and knew I had to meet you." Azmaria explained.

Rosette nodded. "Does your grandfather know you're here?"

Azmaria coloured. "No, not exactly. Fiore managed to make a copy of his key and I came here without his knowledge. I would rather that you didn't mention this to him."

Rosette's eyebrows shot up. "Is that so?"

"Yes. I must talk with you frankly Ms. Christopher. Seventy-five years ago my grandfather was accused for the murder of his mother and his brother." Azmaria said courageously. "He's now an old man. I would ask that if you find any new evidence, please keep it to yourself."

* * *

Reviews beget pride, which begets vanity, which begets greed, which begets updates. 


	6. Flashback

AN: This chapter still isn't quite what I wanted, but I'm posting it anyways, because I could keep tinkering at it forever. Sorry about the slow updates, exam period is really a killjoy. Thank you for all the reviews though. They were really motivating!

* * *

**_Shades of the Past_**

**Chapter 6 – Flashback**

* * *

_August 1st, 1920_

Without any delicacy, Mr. Black pushed a small boy forward for everyone to see.

The household's staff was lined up and silent, surveying the scene with feigned disinterest. The mistress of the manor, Mrs. Black, stood with herseven year old son Chrono near the dining room table. Everyone looked calm, but there was a storm brewing beneath the surface.

It would have been a quiet afternoon if Mr. Black hadn't come home, and brought the boy with him.

His wife, Mrs Black was going blind. The doctors in New England were baffled; no one understood why her eyesight was deteriorating so quickly. They could only suggest that she avoid straining her eyes. But despite her failing vision, Mrs. Black was trying hard to focus on the young boy.

Everyone was looking at the young boy's face. Of course, despite his fair hair, the boy looked almost exactly like his father. Two maids tittered among themselves in the back of the room, but soon stopped when Mr. Black's icy gaze fell on them. No one else dared mention the elephant in the room.

The silence was suffocating. No one dared to move. Everything was still. The chandelier was swaying slightly with the gentle summer breeze, and everyone heard the rustle of fabric when a maid shifted her weight. Mr. Black was the first to break the silence.

"Introduce yourself, boy."

The order was emphasized with a forceful nudge. The blond boy stumbled forward and glared sullenly at back at Mr. Black.

"My name is Aion Black." The boy grumbled. With another forceful nudge he was compelled to ground out, "It's my pleasure, I'm sure."

From the tone of his voice, all knew that Aion was far from being pleased. But Mr. Black ignored the acidity in his son's introduction and smirked openly at his wife, daring her to say something.

Mrs. Black couldn't see her husband's smirk, but she knew that he was waiting for her to make the next move, either to accept or deny her husband's other son. Perhaps he was expecting her to get upset and scream, rage at him. But Mrs. Black had known this day would come, she had known even before her husband started seeing the other woman. Her hold on Chrono's small hand tightened slightly. Her son was still too young to understand what was going on, but everyone else understood perfectly. Chrono looked up at his mother with a questioning gaze.

"Where's his mother?" Mrs. Black asked quietly. There was a collective intake of air, and one maid accidentally let out a little squeak before clamping her hands over her mouth.

Mr. Black sniffed. "We're going to London. We have no use for him; he would only be a nuisance. Aion is to stay here until we return."

Mrs. Black nodded and murmured, "I see."

Husband and wife surveyed one another for a few moments before Mrs. Black motioned to a nearby maid.

"Alice, can you please see to young master Black's things?"

The maid curtsied and hurried to grab Aion's luggage. Two other maids broke their ranks and hurried over to help Alice bring the trunk upstairs.

Another maid tried to take Aion's hand, but he slapped her outstretched hand away and went upstairs by himself. The maid clutched her hand in shock and made a little grimace, obviously not expecting that kind of behaviour from a five year old.

"How long will you be gone?" Mrs. Black's question was a simple one, but it made Mr. Black bristle.

"For as long as we like." Mr. Black shot back and looked around the room with a sneer. "There's nothing of interest here."

Everyone just watched soundlessly as Mr. Black pulled his gloves back on. A butler held out his coat, and he strained pulling an arm through.

"My son! Where's Chrono!" Mr. Black barked out.

Chrono let go of his mother's hand and walked quietly over to where his father was. The small boy was only seven and barely came up to his father's hip. Regardless of his small stature, Mr. Black took a large carpetbag and dumped it into his son's arms.

"I have no use for this, take it." Mr. Black dusted his gloves, as though he had touched something particularly nasty. "There's paperwork in there that needs to be done, boy. See to it. I'm a busy man. I have no time to take care of this decrepit estate."

Chrono held the bag as high as he could even though it was about as big as he was. Mr. Black took one last look around the room, his gaze not resting any longer on his weary looking wife's form than on anyone else's.

"You there, Fred. Go get the horses ready." Mr. Black ordered as he put on his hat.

"My name is George, sir." The butler offered.

"Geoffrey, Fred, I don't care what your name is. Just get the horses ready. Isn't that what you're paid for you insolent wretch?" Mr. Black cried out. His pale features were marred by twin splotches of red.

"Actually sir, that's Charlie's job." George said, but Mr. Black had already swept out the door and slammed it behind him.

All the staff let out a collective sigh of relief once Mr. Black was out the door. His visits were always short, but never pleasant for anyone involved. Once the door was closed it was as though someone had unfrozen time. The staff started moving again, most of them heading back to their respective tasks.

The maids who had helped Aion bring his things upstairs rushed towards the kitchen under the pretext of going to make tea, when everyone knew they were going there to gossip.

Mrs. Black sighed. "George, perhaps it would be a good idea to alert Charlie that the horses will be needed again."

George waved her off. "Let him wait a bit m'am. The horses probably haven't even been watered yet."

"I know, but it would be best if we did everything possible to help Mr. Black leave." Mrs. Black said with a smile.

George grumbled but didn't argue. He left the room and went to the kitchen, where the maids tittering got louder with his arrival. Even though the door to the kitchen was closed, everyone in the dinning room could hear George complaint through the wall.

His voice carried so that everyone could hear him clearly.

"What a bloody fop! What gives him the right to leave his bastard here with us while he goes gallivanting around Europe with his strumpet?" Everyone in the dinning room cringed at George's choice of words and the knowledge that Mrs. Black had heard it.

Mrs. Black though, pretended she hadn't heard and slowly felt her way across the room to where Chrono was still holding the carpetbag. Chrono was standing still, his face crumpled into a frown.

"What's wrong Chrono?" Mrs. Black asked, leaning down to her son's level.

"Why doesn't he ever stay?" Chrono asked his mother quietly.

Mrs. Black smiled sadly. "Because he isn't happy here darling."

"Why isn't he happy with us? Doesn't he love us?"

Mrs. Black sighed softly. "No Chrono, I don't think so. But that doesn't matter, since we love each other very much. You're happy with me, aren't you?"

"Of course!" Chrono exclaimed dropping the carpetbag. "I'll never leave you like he does mother, I promise! I'll love you forever!"

Chrono threw himself into his mother's arms, burring his face against her. Mrs. Black patted his head softly, with a knowing smile.

"I know Chrono." She ruffled his hair lovingly. "And I also know that you'll always be faithful to Rosette too."

Chrono gave her a perplexed frown. "Who? You're talking strange again mother."

Mrs Black laughed, patting her son's head absently. "Am I?"

Chrono nodded. "Yes."

"Then I suppose I wont be rewarded with a kiss for predicting your future?" Mrs. Black asked playfully.

"Magdalene said that it's impossible to tell the future." Chrono announced. "And Magdalene is almost always right."

"Yes, yes. I suppose that Magdalene would know best then." Mrs. Black smiled lovingly at her son. "Why don't you go upstairs to help your half-brother settle in Chrono?"

Chrono nodded and headed towards the stairs.

But before he stepped up on the first stair, he turned around to look at his mother.

"Is Aion really my brother?" Chrono asked childishly. "I thought I was your only son?"

Mrs. Black stood up from her crouched position and dusted off her dress. She smiled tenderly at her son.

"You are dearest."

"But then how can Aion be my brother?" Chrono asked, looking rather confused.

"I'll explain it to you another day. For now, you have to promise me to be nice to your brother." Mrs. Black leaned on the banister.

"I will." Chrono continued halfway up the stairs before turning back again.

"If you really can tell the future, why did you marry father?" Chrono asked his mother quietly. "He's never nice to you."

Mrs. Black just leaned her head on her folded arms and smiled up to where she thought her son was on the stairs. "Oh, that's not important. I'm not unhappy, not really. I have a wonderful son, who I'm very proud of."

Chrono flushed under his mother's praise.

"And it couldn't have happened any other way dearest. The future is a fickle thing, but it is anything but uncertain. I knew a long time ago that if I settled for a loveless marriage with your father, then the next generation would be able to find their soul mates." Mrs. Black smiled playfully.

"And now, I have a new addition to my family!" Mrs Black continued. "Aion may not be related to me by blood, but he is family now, and I can tell that he and I shall get along just fine."

Chrono didn't look so convinced, but he didn't argue.

Mrs. Black just smiled, knowing her son's expression was doubtful despite her blindness. "Let me tell you a secret Chrono. If you truly want something to happen, then the whole universe will conspire in your favour. Remember that, especially in your future dealings with Aion."

Chrono didn't understand, but he nodded and walked up the stairs to go help his half-brother settle in.

Mrs. Black watched his small form disappear before walking carefully over to the window. She couldn't see the shapes clearly, but she knew her husband was still outside, raging at the slow stable boy. She could hear his tirade even from her distant vantage point.

"Yes. Whatever his faults are, I can't deny that he gave me two wonderful sons." Mrs. Black murmured to herself.

"What a shame that I shall never see my grandchildren!"

"M'am, the tea is ready." A maid announced as she entered the room. Without being prompted, she went over to Mrs. Black and offered her arm.

"Shall I guide you to the kitchen m'am?" the maid asked.

Mrs. Black took the offered arm and smiled. "Yes, please, if you don't mind Caddy. I think tea would suit me just fine."

* * *

_The Present_

"Please." Azmaria murmured. "I know that this is an unfair request."

"Just a little." Rosette muttered to herself, glancing at Chrono. He wasn't looking at her. Rosette got the impression that he was ignoring them.

Azmaria nodded. "I understand that the position I'm putting you in is a difficult one. But Ms. Christopher, these events happened years ago. There's probably nothing to find. And even if there was, no one will want to open a seventy-five year old case. I'm only asking you this so that I can rest more easily at night."

Rosette sighed and sat down in a chair. She looked over at Chrono again, but he was facing away from her with his head down, as though his mind was somewhere else. Since his murder was brought up, he had stopped smiling and was lost in his own thoughts.

Rosette shook her head to try and clear Chrono from her mind. He obviously wasn't going to give her any cues on how she should react to this, so she decided to be straightforward and say what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry Ms. Black, I just really don't understand why you're asking me this. If it happened so long ago, and there was never any evidence found then, why would any be found now? This house is a mess. It's falling apart. Your grandfather hired me to fix it, but what he really should have hired was a construction crew. Any material evidence for a crime would have disintegrated a long time ago. Why would I find something that no one else has?"

Azmaria sighed and took a seat in the chair opposite Rosette. She didn't lean back into it, however. She sat on the edge of the seat and wrung her hands against the arms of the chair.

"I know this may sound crazy Ms. Christopher, but you have heard me up to this point without turning me out, so I feel that I can be frank with you."

Rosette nodded. "Go ahead, I'm not going to throw you out. It's your house anyways, like the hired help so kindly noted."

Azmaria flushed. "Once again, I'm sorry about Fiore's behaviour. She's not usually like that."

"Of course." Rosette muttered.

Azmaria looked around the room nervously before taking a few deep breaths. Once the small girl had sufficiently calmed herself, she clenched her hands together in determination.

"This may sound crazy, but I think my grandfather expects you to find something. I think that's why he hired you."

Rosette raised an eyebrow. "What could I possibly find--"

She stopped herself and looked strait at Chrono. He was still looking away from her with a frown on his face, looking as though he wanted to be anywhere else but in that room at the moment. As though he could feel her gaze on him, Chrono turned his head further away so that she couldn't see his expression.

What was Chrono not telling her? And did Mr. Black know that she would be able to see Chrono?

Rosette's mind started racing. There had to be some truth to that statement. Mr. Black had known! In the hospital, the old man had grilled her about whether or not she had seen Chrono. Somehow, Aion Black had known that she saw his long dead brother.

"How would he know that?" Rosette asked slowly, more to herself than Azmaria. But the small girl took the question as being directed to her.

"Ms. Christopher, I understand if you don't believe me, but please take what I have to say into consideration." Azmaria said.

Rosette nodded, and that was all the prompting the girl needed.

"This may sound crazy, but it is said that the Blacks have an ancient and revered bloodline. Many members of this family were prevented a marriage of their own choosing for the sake of keeping the bloodline pure."

Rosette raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound crazy. It sounds like typical nineteenth century social Darwinism to me."

Azmaria shook her head. "You haven't heard the rest of it. The Blacks tried to keep the bloodline pure because they claim to have demonic heritage. They say that some members of the family had supernatural powers."

Rosette's jaw dropped just a little, but she quickly clamped it shut. Had Azmaria told her this just a few weeks ago, she would have thought the poor girl was in serious need of psychiatric help. Her, as well as the rest of the Black family, including her snarky, misguided grandfather.

But…

Rosette looked up. Across the room, Chrono's knuckles were almost white from clutching the windowsill.

Here was the living, or rather, dead, proof that the supernatural did exist. Rosette's proof was standing in the same room, obviously very disturbed by the conversation.

So instead of laughing, Rosette turned to Azmaria and asked, "What kind of powers?"

Azmaria jumped a little. She hadn't expected that kind of question. The small girl hesitated, worried that Rosette was simply making fun of her. But Rosette's face was serious and there wasn't a hint of mockery.

Azmaria was ready to cry in relief. No one had ever taken her claim seriously before.

"My grandfather wont talk about it," Azmaria began earnestly, "but if you promise not to laugh, I can tell you some of the things I've heard."

"I'm not planning on laughing." Rosette admitted with a smile.

Chrono finally snapped out of his daze and looked towards Rosette.

"Rosette, that's enough. Promise her you wont say anything."

Rosette, feeling rather annoyed that Chrono was cutting in like that after ignoring her, decided to be childish and ignore him right back.

"Go ahead Ms. Black." Rosette prompted. Chrono's expression darkened at being disregarded so easily, and he opened his mouth to say something else, but Azmaria started talking while fiddling with her sleeve.

"I know you must think I'm quite strange to come here and ask you to keep quiet about a seventy five year old secret, and then going on to tell you that my family has demon powers. But since I've started, I might as well tell you the whole story. Ms. Christopher, I have reason to believe that my grandfather can see into other people's hearts. It would seem that by looking at a person, he can see all their formative experiences and is able to determine what kind of person they are. This is just one rumour about demonic powers, but sometimes, when he gets really drunk, my grandfather talks about his family."

Rosette smirked at the idea that Aion Black would ever stoop down and get drunk like a teenager. She laughed.

"If he can see into other people's hearts, then he knew I was in dire need of some cash, that's all. But continue, I want to know what he says about his family."

Rosette didn't look over to Chrono, who had moved from his spot over by the window and was coming closer to her. Azmaria continued.

"He says that his adoptive mother, Mrs. Black, had the ability to see the future, and that his half-brother Chrono was the strongest of them all--"

"That's enough." Chrono said, his dark eyes flashing. "Promise her that you wont say anything and send her on her way."

But Rosette blocked one ear, ignored Chrono, and focused on what Azmaria was saying.

"I'm sorry, there was a fly buzzing in my ear. Go on, what was Aion's brother able to do?" Rosette said with a half-smile.

Azmaria looked at Rosette strangely since she hadn't heard Chrono's cry, but she continued.

"Apparently he could control time. My grandfather says his brother was too stupid to do anything useful with his abilities though." Azmaria admitted.

Rosette blinked. "Are you serious? Control time?"

Chrono placed a hand on Rosette's shoulder, which made her jump. Leaning forward he took her chin between his fingers and whispered in her ear.

"Rosette, don't ignore me. Send Azmaria away."

Rosette was startled by the intimacy of his whisper, and reflexively moved to push him away. Her hand, which was pushing against his shoulder near the collarbone, froze when she realised that Azmaria couldn't see the devil whispering in her ear.

Azmaria was looking at her strangely again, so Rosette quickly pulled her hand back as though it had been burned. Chrono, who saw that he could do what he liked more or less with impunity, leaned back against her ear.

"I died a long time ago Rosette. I don't care whether or not I was murdered; it makes no difference in the end. Promise her you wont bring up the old case and send her home."

Rosette shivered at his proximity and gave a slight nod. She folded her hands in her lap in an effort to suppress her need to push Chrono away. Far away.

Rosette had to settle for sending Azmaria away.

"I'm sorry Ms. Black, but could we continue our conversation some other time? Until then, I promise I wont go looking for any skeletons in the closet. I'm sorry to send you away so suddenly, but I just remembered that I have more cleaning to do, and that you have two minions waiting in the car." Rosette said.

Chrono frowned, not wanting the conversation to continue some other time, but said nothing. Azmaria gave a little gasp.

"Oh! I'd almost forgotten about Lars and Fiore!" Azmaria got up and reluctantly held a hand out for Rosette.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Ms. Christopher. I sincerely hope that we can continue talking another time." Azmaria stated solemnly.

Rosette shook the small girl's hand and forced a smile. "Same here. You'll have to visit again when your grandfather's back is turned. But please, next time, give me a call before you break in."

Rosette took a pen and paper from her bag and scribbled down her phone number for Azmaria. The girl accepted it with a smile.

"I will. If you don't mind though, I'll keep the spare key just in case. And I'll also give you this."

Azmaria took out a business card and handed it over to Rosette. "If you ever encounter any trouble, or need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks." Rosette said absently as she studied the gold lettering on the business card.

"I'll just let myself out. Thank you for listening to me for so long Ms. Christopher." Azmaria said politely.

Rosette smirked. "Don't be a stranger. I'm always available to listen to any stories about your family."

Azmaria flushed. "Ah, yes. Please, I'd appreciate it if you pretended this conversation never took place."

"Don't worry about it." Rosette winked.

Azmaria just smiled as she turned the door's handle. "Thank you. I appreciate your discretion. If my grandfather found out that I was here…"

"I understand."

Azmaria nodded and said her final goodbyes before stepping out the door.

From the window, Rosette watched the small girl climb into the black BMW and speed off moments afterwards. She sighed and turned towards her resident memory.

"There, are you happy now?"

Chrono was still by the couch, and he was looking up at her with a dark expression.

"Exceedingly."

Rosette frowned. "Why were you so impatient to send her away? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me." Chrono shot back.

"Yes, there is something wrong with you. You're not acting like you normally do. Why don't you just tell me why you were so eager to get rid of her when she started talking about the Black family being demons?"

Chrono bristled at her comment. "We're not demons!"

"Oh? Then what are you? You're definitely not normal; the fact that you're hanging around this house for decades after your death is proof of that. I'm rather inclined to believe her. She doesn't seem like the type that would lie. So then why were you getting so worked up when she started to talk about demonic powers?" Rosette took a step towards him.

Chrono stood up and clenched his fists. "You should keep out of our business."

Rosette raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, 'our'? Haven't you been alone here for seventy-five years? Your family thinks you're long dead and buried. There's probably no one around that really remembers you. What does it matter if your great grandniece tells me you have demonic powers? Why does it upset you so much?"

Chrono stepped towards Rosette and looked at her with an expression of pure agony.

"Because our powers are useless Rosette! You may think it's funny and laugh at us for claiming to have demonic heritage, but it has caused the Blacks nothing but pain. Azmaria talks about demonic powers lightly because she probably doesn't have any. She doesn't know what it's like. It's true that when I was alive I could control time to a certain degree, but what could I do with that? I couldn't help my mother, and I couldn't save myself. These powers are nothing but cheap tricks. They've never made anyone happy; it would be better if people simply forgot we even had any. So don't ask me about it. We're a cursed family Rosette, and it's in your best interest not to get involved."

Rosette shook her head. "I'm already involved. I've been involved since your brother hired me. It didn't seem to bother you before. If you didn't want me to be involved, you could have scared me off, or let me drown."

"I couldn't let you drown." Chrono murmured. "You know that."

"Then why are you suddenly pushing me away? I want to know more about you Chrono. I learned more about you and your family from Azmaria in an hour than I've learned from you in several days. If you don't want me to go fishing for information, why don't you tell me yourself?"

Chrono shook his head. "I can't. This was a bad idea. I never should have revealed myself to you. Things are getting too complicated."

"Then why did you?" Rosette pressed on. "Why did you start talking to me?"

"Because I was lonely!" Chrono burst out, stepping closer to Rosette. "Because you were the first person in over half a century who could see me. I was lonely, and I wanted to get to know you better."

"I want to get to know you better too Chrono." Rosette murmured, taking one of his hands into hers. "So then what's wrong? Why are you getting so riled up? Azmaria didn't mean any harm."

"I know." Chrono admitted finally, tightening his grip on Rosette's hand. "I'm overreacting. Just don't mention demonic powers again. They aren't of any use. They've never made anyone happy. Just forget Azmaria ever mentioned them."

Rosette raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of things I've been asked to forget today."

Chrono was silent, looking away from her.

"Alright then. I'll forget that you were murdered and that you have demonic powers for now. But I'd appreciate it if you talked to me about it some other time." Rosette murmured.

"There's nothing to talk about." Chrono replied sullenly. "I can't remember my death, and because I'm just a memory, I probably can't control time. And it's just as well."

Rosette sighed. "I'm not just going to let this go. Either I hear it from you, or I call up Azmaria. I'm willing to give you time, but I do want to know what's going on Chrono. You can't just tease me with information like this and then make me pretend I never heard about it."

"I know. Some other time Rosette." Chrono murmured wearily. "Not today."

"You may have all the time in the world, but I'm only here for a few months, or until this dump looks liveable. I want to know the whole story. And if I don't hear it from you, then I'm just going to go looking for information on my own." Rosette chided.

"I know." Chrono gave her a bittersweet smile. "I'll tell you what I know, but not now. Some other day."

"Good." Rosette smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. Chrono flushed and brought a hand up to his face.

"Don't make me wait very long."

And with that, Rosette left the room, leaving behind a very red and bewildered memory.

* * *

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	7. The Villagers Knew the Demon

AN: Ten points to Neko no Shippou for bringing up my Harry Potter reference. Although it has nothing to do with the plot of this story, I do so enjoy my Harry Potter. There are more points up for grabs if anyone can figure out where the names Lars and Caddy come from. How about a hint? From two completely different books, the first is a royal bodyguard, the second has a confusing relationship with Quentin. That's all for now!

No worries, I haven't forgotten this story, and I have every intention of finishing. Because my mom had to move to Toronto for work, I've moved in with my grandparents, which slowed down the writing process quite a bit. But my writer's block is over (knocks on wood) so please enjoy the next chapter of Shades of the Past!

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**_Shades of the Past_**

_Chapter 7 – The Villagers Knew the Demon

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With one swift movement, Rosette tore the sheet off the piano. The sheet was probably once white, but it was now yellowing with dust and age. The cloud that the sheet created hung ominously in the air and then gently drifted down, hanging in the rays of light shining in through the large windows. Rosette didn't even have the reflex to cough anymore: she had stirred up enough dust to learn to wear a mask.

She rolled up the sheet, not paying attention to how white her clothes were getting and looked at the piano from the corner of her eye. It stood imposingly alone in the centre of a nearly empty room. Laying the sheet down, she walked back over to the instrument and studied it.

"It's old," Rosette remarked a little caustically after she had taken off her mask, "Just like everything else in this house."

Surprised by the bitterness in her words, Rosette stopped for a moment, and then sighed.

"Of course it's old. It's been here for over eighty years. But then, it wasn't the piano you were talking about, was it?" Rosette shook her head and smiled ruefully.

Chrono's age was becoming quite a sore point. He was so serious and easy to get along with that Rosette sometimes forgot that he was her brother's age. Or rather, that seventeen was the age he died at. He was constantly in her thoughts, in a way that made Rosette uneasy. He was quiet, intelligent, and other than his tendency to brood for hours at a time, he seemed like an ordinary enough guy.

And that was the problem.

It was getting hard for Rosette to remember that Chrono was, despite his youthful appearance, old enough to be her grandfather. She couldn't entertain any romantic thoughts. He was too young, too old, and too dead.

'Chrono is quite the contradiction isn't he?' Rosette thought to herself with an internal sigh, 'If I were using any bit of common sense, I wouldn't be considering a relationship in the first place.'

Last week, she caught herself admiring his back when he took his shirt off to move heavy furniture. Despite being pale and delicate looking, Chrono was actually well built. And it was several minutes later, once her brain resumed its normal functions that she realised that she was in trouble. Chrono had a very nice back, one that Rosette wouldn't mind dating if he were legal.

'And alive,' Rosette added in. Maybe, if he had been transparent and ghost-like, it would be easier for Rosette to ignore his advances. But because he was more like a Xerox of the original than an insubstantial spirit, it was getting harder to ignore him. He seemed be trying to get as close to her as he possibly could. He hadn't mentioned her kiss, but he took every opportunity there was to touch her, or to hold her hand.

Like this morning, his fingers had lingered just a little too long on hers when he moved to take the cream for the coffee. Rosette justified his touchiness by saying that seventy years of being alone would probably make her touchy too. She couldn't rationalize his almost-kisses though. And why he behaved like a jealous boyfriend whenever she took too much time to come back home from the town. It was a good thing he hadn't caught her flirting with the town's doctor.

Rosette ran her hand along the surface of the piano. The keys were yellowing with age and the paint flaked away beneath her fingers. Rosette pulled her hand back, and studied it to survey the damage.

"Looks like all it really needs is a coat of paint," Rosette murmured as she flicked away the bits or black paint that were stuck to her fingertips. With a sigh, Rosette tested her weight on the piano bench to make sure it didn't collapse beneath her. When she saw that it was sturdy enough, she crumpled down onto it and slouched forward with a sigh.

Despite being serious and strangely mature for a seventeen year old, Chrono wasn't above being possessive of the first person to be able to see him in seventy years. Before she could leave the house, he would get anxious and start to question her. Like a mother hen, he wanted to know where she was going, whom she would be with, and when she would be back. He just couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the idea that she could take care of herself and that she wouldn't run away, elope, get attacked, and so on. While having very progressive opinions concerning women, Chrono was clearly a product of his generation.

'He wont like it, but I'll have to go back into town,' Rosette thought to herself, fingering the piano's keys absentmindedly. 'I wonder if Kate knows where I can find someplace that sells paint for this thing?'

She had never learned how to play an instrument, though the thought held a certain appeal. She knew herself well enough to know that she would probably never make the effort to learn. It would probably remain indefinitely on her list of things to do before she died, right next to getting married. With her current lifestyle, Rosette figured that her chances of picking up live men were slim to none. She already had the rest of her life planned out as a solitary cat-lady.

Rosette surveyed the almost empty room from her seat behind the piano. Things were going well, reparations were progressing smoothly. No local workmen dared swindle her, probably because they were as afraid of Mr Black as she was. But she didn't have the time for any leisure, since the house was falling apart faster than she could fix it. And ever since Azmaria's visit, Rosette had been feeling uneasy. She kept replaying that conversation in her mind, but she just didn't understand what was going on. She understood enough to realise that Mr. Black was probably plotting something, she just couldn't figure out what. And Chrono refused to talk about his family. Rosette found that cleaning helped clear her mind. The unanswered questions that hung over her head gave her the aggression necessary to attack any project, as the quick progression of the manor's restoration showed.

With a sigh, Rosette closed her eyes and rested her fingers on the piano keys. The morning sunlight and the piano's cool keys had a soothing effect on her, allowing Rosette to relax for a few moments and let the tension leave her shoulders.

Rosette gave a little start when she felt a set of larger palms rest on hers.

"Place your fingers like this," Chrono murmured as he moved her hands. Rosette flushed, embarrassed to have been caught sleeping on the job. She hadn't even heard Chrono enter the room.

Chrono leaned into Rosette's back, looking over her shoulder at the keys. He murmured explanations as he guided her hands over the keys.

"This is the G key. From here," Chrono whispered into her ear, placing her thumb on the key then moving it to another, "to here is an octave."

Yes, that touching habit was something that she would have break. His breath was warm against her ear, and if her heart hadn't been racing, Rosette could probably have fallen asleep by leaning back into his chest.

"Can you play?" Rosette asked, reluctantly manoeuvring out of his embrace to make room on the bench. Chrono took up her silent offer and sat down next to her.

"Yes, not as well as some, but I manage." Chrono smiled. It was nice to see Chrono smile; it made him almost look his age. Rosette smiled back.

"Did you take lessons?"

"Yes. I even gave some a certain point." Chrono explained, "But it was just for children." His thumb traced patterns into the back of her hand.

Reluctant to ruin the moment, Rosette was silent for a while, allowing Chrono to do as he liked with her hand. For some reason, it depressed her to hear him talk about his past so fondly. Maybe it was because she knew that he wouldn't be able to experience those things again, and that once she left, he would only be able to live in the past. Her stay here wasn't permanent after all. She was only here to fix the manor, not to get involved with its undead occupant.

"I need to go into town," Rosette said once she had overcome the thickness in her mouth, "We need more paint and cleaning materials."

Chrono frowned, like he always did when she mentioned going into town. "I'm coming with you today."

Rosette rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, you really don't need to do that."

"It isn't a hassle," Chrono replied darkly, "and you shouldn't be going out alone."

Rosette bristled a little, "We're not in the nineteen twenties Chrono. I can take care of myself. Beside, if someone does attack me, how much good will you being around do?"

Chrono stiffened, his jaw clenched tightly.

Rosette realised she had gone too far but wasn't going to back down. She hadn't meant to hurt Chrono's pride, but honestly, she had lived alone with Joshua for years without anyone's help. Chrono stood up abruptly and headed for the door.

"You may feel that way, but you're not invincible Rosette. Maybe it's about time you let someone worry about you for once." Chrono replied without malice. Rosette glared at him challengingly but he met her gaze without wavering. A little embarrassed by the intensity she saw there, Rosette was the once who looked away. When she looked up again Chrono was gone.

Rosette clutched her hands together, rubbing the back of her palm in the same way that Chrono had done. Yes, it was very hard to remember that a relationship with Chrono wouldn't lead anywhere. And at times it felt like she was already deeply in one.

* * *

A little while later, Rosette and Chrono were walking along the dirt road leading to the small town. Open fields lined the curving roads, and trees swayed ominously in a vicious breeze. Although the sun had been shining brightly earlier in the morning, now fast moving clouds at times hid it from sight.

They walked in silence, still a little tense from their earlier argument. Rosette ignored Chrono in favour of looking at the scenery. Trees mostly blocked her view, but every once in a while they passed by a house, showing that there was in fact some sign of life in the area aside from cows. Rosette fought down the impulse to ask Chrono if the houses had been there in his time. The fact that he was even able to walk down the road into town suggested that the dirt road had been there at least eighty years, so why not the houses?

"Things haven't changed much," Chrono murmured, as though answering her unvoiced question, "The scenery is the same, although there are fewer trees and more houses."

Looking further away, Rosette caught sight of a church's steeple. It was framed by fast moving black clouds and swaying trees. The cross on the top looked a little crooked from Rosette's vantage point, and as they got closer to the building, Rosette saw that the tower's bell was being pushed by the violent winds. They never really got close enough to see the whole church since they turned down another road to get into the small town. Rosette made a note to come back and visit the church another day, when she had her car.

Once in town, it didn't take very long for Rosette to find everything she was looking for. She left with more rat poison, more cleaning supplies and some food. The manager of the general store, who had quickly taken a liking to Rosette and Mr. Black's credit card, had even gone out of his way to order some special piano paint, telling her that it would arrive in a week or two.

Seeing as Chrono wasn't very fond of crowded enclosed spaces, he waited for her patiently outside. Chrono remarked that though most of the buildings had been there eighty years ago, the floor plans would have undoubtedly changed. Rosette agreed and was tempted to make him hold her bags while he waited outside, but soon remembered that he couldn't do that. Rosette wasn't sure what the rest of the world would see, floating bags or none at all, but she wasn't keen on finding out.

Chrono wasn't completely safe from the crowds outside however. On one occasion, he didn't move out of the way quickly enough and someone walked strait through half his body. Rosette saw Chrono shudder, and he looked rather green for a while afterwards. When he saw that Rosette was watching him with concern, Chrono gave her a watery smile.

"It doesn't hurt," he murmured, "don't worry about it."

But nonetheless Chrono doubled his efforts to avoid being touched by anyone else. Rosette got the impression that he wished it had hurt.

She avoided talking to Chrono so as not to look crazy and went about her errands quickly. No one seemed to notice the dark haired teen as he waited quietly on the steps for Rosette to come back out. People walked by, going about their business and didn't even glance at Chrono. Rosette now understood why Chrono had wanted to make it clear he wasn't a ghost: absolutely no one else but Rosette could see him. It was as though he didn't exist. A few more people walked through him unintentionally, and Rosette saw that Chrono was as repulsed by it as she was. To him, it confirmed the fact that he didn't exist anymore. To Rosette, it made her question her sanity.

Once she was done at one store, he would get up and follow her to the next, soon learning that the safest place to walk was behind Rosette so that she could clear the way for him.

"I just need to stop at the post office, then we can head back. Are you staying here?" Rosette turned back to ask Chrono. One woman who was passing by looked at her oddly, but Rosette ignored it. They could blame any loss of sanity on the chemical fumes she'd been sniffing for the past five weeks.

Chrono was looking away, observing people going about their business in the small town. Rosette was struck by how out of place he looked in his severe looking nineteen twenties clothing that looked as though it were starched to perfection.

"I'll be fine out here," Chrono replied simply. Rosette shrugged and opened the post office door. A bell attached to the door gave a little ring as she entered and an elderly gentleman greeted her. He looked a little started to have a customer, but soon recovered.

"Hello my dear, you're a new face," the old gentleman said jovially, holding out a liver spotted hand. Rosette shook it and smiled.

"Rosette Christopher. I'm here for a package?" She handed him the notice that had been pasted to the Black Manor's gates, far away from the door. People were still scared of the house and wouldn't come near it. It was a pain in the arse. She hated walking all the way to the gates every morning just to get her paper. She had considered cancelling her subscription over the crap service, but knew that without cable or the Internet, those newspapers were her only connection to the outside world. So she kept them coming.

The old man nodded absently. "Yes, yes, I'll get that for you. It might take a while, and it looks like it might be raining soon, so why don't you ask your friend to come wait inside with you?"

Rosette's eyes widened and she quickly glanced out the front window. Chrono was the only one around, standing with his back to the window, observing people as they drove by. It took a few moments before Rosette could trust herself to talk properly. "He'd rather wait outside. Thank you for your concern though."

The old man nodded, "Alright then. I'll just go to the back to get your package dear." He disappeared from behind the counter and Rosette was left alone with her racing thoughts.

'He can see Chrono!' Rosette thought, her mind aching with relief, 'I'm not the only one. I'm not crazy! For a while there I thought Chrono might be the product of my sad, lonely single female mind. Although if it were up to me, I would have made my imaginary boyfriend a little older.' Rosette leaned against the counter, breathing deeply into her palms. That gave some credibility to Chrono's 'memory' theory.

'The post office master must have been just a little boy when he first saw Chrono, he probably doesn't even realise that the boy he was referring to is the long dead Black heir.' Rosette realised, chewing her lip. 'But then, if people who knew Chrono when he was alive can see him, why am I able to interact with him? This makes no sense. I know Chrono said he knew my name while he was still alive, but how is that possible?'

Rosette was so deep in thought that she almost didn't hear the bell ring when someone opened the door. Turning around, she found herself face to face with the town's young doctor.

"Ms Christopher! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Dr Remington exclaimed. Rosette flushed happily, albeit a little guiltily. She checked to make sure Chrono was still looking away so that she could make small talk with the doctor without her 'memory' getting jealous.

"I could say the same to you doctor," Rosette replied, "Expecting some mail?"

Dr Remington smiled and shook his head. "Oh, no. Actually, it's my grandfather who runs this place. I just wanted to check up on him."

The old gentleman picked this moment to come back from the storeroom.

"Ewan! What are you doing here my dear boy?" The old man's expression lit up considerably with pride. "Ms Christopher, have you met my grandson? He's the town doctor," the old man leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "He studied at Harvard!"

Dr. Remington laughed and waved off the comment, "Pay no attention to the man behind the counter Ms Christopher, all he does is sing my praises. From the way my grandfather talks, you'd think I was a saint rather than a small town doctor."

Dr. Remington's grandfather chuckled as he shook his head, handing Rosette her package. "So modest! Here you go dear."

Rosette received it with a nod.

"Thank you." She paled considerably when she saw whom it was from though.

Apparently Aion Black was still nearby, because there was his name sitting comfortably on top of someone's New York State address.

"Great," Rosette muttered to herself, "Nice to know he hasn't forgotten about me."

Old Mr. Remington looked over her shoulder. "You must be someone of quite some consequence Ms Christopher, I don't think Mr. Black has ever sent mail to anyone from this town."

"Yeah, well my employer likes to keep me on my toes," Rosette replied and she shook the box lightly to see if she could hear what was inside.

"Grandfather, you've seen Mr. Black before, right?" Dr. Remington asked with a smile.

"Oh, yes. But that was years ago, before he left with his young wife. I remember seeing his older stepbrother too, before he died." Old Mr. Remington shook his head, a wistful smile on his face. "The Black boys were almost like royalty for this town. It's a shame that Mr Black doesn't live here anymore, but then, I always did like the older brother better. He used to give me a penny to buy candy whenever he saw me. Drove my poor mother absolutely crazy, she used to say that a penny's worth of candy was enough to turn a young boy savage. But I turned out fine."

The old man gave his grandson a cheeky smile. Dr. Remington just rolled his eyes. "I'm sure your wife would beg to differ. Anyways, I'll drive you home Ms Christopher seeing as nature decided to recreate the biblical flood for us."

Rosette looked out the window and was surprised to find that it was, in fact, raining. She couldn't see Chrono anymore though. A bit angry with herself for taking so long, Rosette guessed that Chrono got tired of waiting and left. She just hoped he was somewhere dry.

"I don't think I recognized that handsome young man you were with Ms. Christopher," the old man began with a smile, "Is he from out of town?"

Rosette blushed a bit. She knew Chrono was handsome, but it was strange to hear someone else confirm it. "I guess you can say that."

"Is he here to help you with the Manor?" Dr. Remington asked, leaning against the counter next to Rosette.

"Err… well, I guess so. He's been helping quite a bit since people seem unwilling to come within a 500-metre radius of the house," Rosette grumbled. "I was fortunate enough to get several specialists from neighbouring towns to do stuff like the plumbing, replacing the windows, plastering."

The old man nodded. "Yes, well that house has quite a sinister history. Both the older Black brother and the second wife were found dead on the same day. I was just six at the time but the event caused quite a stir in the town. Oh, but listen to me prattle on about seventy year old gossip. I'm beginning to sound like your girlfriend Ewan!"

Dr. Remington flushed. "Grandpa!"

Old Mr. Remington chuckled, "Sorry, sorry. I know that Kate has a good heart, but you know as well as I do that she loves gossip! Well then, you kids better be off."

Dr. Remington nodded and waved goodbye to his grandfather. Rosette followed the young doctor out of the post office, clutching her package. She was pleased to see that Chrono wasn't too far away. He was waiting next door where the building had a porch to keep him dry. When he saw that Rosette was outside, he left his shelter to go see her.

"My car is over here Ms Christopher!" Dr. Remington cried out over the rain, waving her over.

Rosette hesitated then yelled, "I'll be right there, there's something in my shoe!"

Making a show of it, she leaned against the wet brick and took off her shoe, leaning forward to make sure that Dr. Remington wouldn't see her lips move. Chrono was close enough to her to hear her over the sound of the pouring rain.

"Dr. Remington offered me a lift back to the manor, so lets go." Rosette flicked a piece of wet hair out of her eyes.

But Chrono just stood there with an unreadable expression. The rain was making his already dark hair look even blacker.

"You go," he murmured, "I'll walk back."

"You can't be serious! You're already soaked, I know you can't die from it, but if you walk home, you'll get sick!" Rosette exclaimed, "I'll just open the door and make a show of putting my stuff in the back so that you can take a seat, then when we get out I'll just leave the door open for a while. No one will think anything of it."

Chrono just looked away. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Rosette exclaimed, "I just explained the master plan to you, it's so simple that it's foolproof!"

Chrono sighed and shook his head. The rain was making his hair stick to his face. "It's not that. I've never been in a car before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything--" Rosette began but then stopped abruptly when it dawned on her. "Oh. Oh! Right."

Chrono reached forward and brushed his fingers against her cheek. Rosette's breath caught in her throat as he moved a few strands of hair out of her eyes.

"Looks like you were right earlier, I am rather useless, aren't I?" He gave her a strained smile before moving away. "He's waiting for you. Don't worry, I'll see you later."

Rosette's mouth opened and closed a few times. She wanted to argue with him, but he was already too far away, she would have needed to yell to be heard over the rain. Rosette had already spent enough time fixing her shoe; Dr. Remington was probably worried she had developed gangrene or something. With a groan, Rosette jogged over to Dr. Remington's car and got in.

"Is everything alright Ms. Christopher?" Dr. Remington asked with a concerned frown.

Rosette smiled weakly. "Fine Doctor, I just was having problems getting my shoe back on."

Dr. Remington nodded and shifted the car into Drive. Rosette watched helplessly as Chrono walked along the muddy road with his hands in his pockets, soaked to the bone. He met her eyes and gave her a sad smile, but soon the car was far enough away that Chrono was nothing but a blur.

Rosette sighed and leaned her cheek against her knuckle, watching the scenery go by listlessly. She regretted getting into the car. If she had simply asked old Mr. Remington for an umbrella, she could have walked home with Chrono. Then he would be somewhat drier, and they could have talked on the way home. Dr. Remington would have protested vehemently, but she could have done it. A heavy weight settled in the bottom of her stomach.

Dr. Remington noticed Rosette's depressed expression and cleared his throat. "Have you seen that church?"

Rosette looked up and saw the church she and Chrono had passed by that morning.

"It's only a few years shy of being 300 years old." Dr. Remington continued when he saw he had Rosette's attention, "It's the oldest church in the area, and it's been here forever, almost like the Blacks."

Rosette perked up at the mention of the Blacks. "Are they a very old family?"

Dr. Remington nodded, "Yes, and filthy rich too. You should visit the cemetery one day to see all their graves, they're quite impressive. The Blacks even have their own mausoleum."

Rosette responded that she might go see it, storing that information away. She was curious to see if she could find Chrono's grave. It would have to be a solo expedition though, because Chrono didn't seem to like being reminded that he was dead.

Soon enough Dr. Remington pulled up in font of the Black Manor. Being braver than most of the hired help, he drove up past the main gates and went all the way to the main door. Rosette thanked him and took her package and bags out of the car before waving him off with a smile. She climbed up the stairs to stand on the dry porch, opening the door to put the bags inside before coming back out. With a sigh, she slumped down into one of the porch chairs to watch the road.

Now all she could do was wait.

Eventually, exhaustion won over and Rosette fell asleep in the chair, lulled by the sound of the torrential rain hitting the ground. She didn't know how long she was asleep, but when she woke up it was because someone was placing a blanket over her. Glancing up, she saw that Chrono was standing above her, dark hair and clothes weighed down by the rain.

He looked defeated, and Rosette couldn't understand why.

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Review! 


	8. In the Dark

Thank you for all the lovely reviews! They definitely motivated me to get this chapter done as soon as possible, which was not very soon at all because of the end of the semester. But classes are done now and there is much rejoicing, so please enjoy the chapter!

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**Shades of the Past**

**_Chapter 8 – In the Dark_**

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Chrono stood on the porch, his dripping clothes forming a pool at his feet. Rosette wanted to greet him, but his pained features made her hesitate a bit. Something was eating away at him, and Rosette couldn't easily guess what it was. She wanted to reach out to him and ask what was wrong and made the movements to do so. But as she got up from her seat to go towards him, the blanket Chrono had placed on her fell into a heap on the floor. His defeated expression softened slightly as he reached out to pick up the blanket. Shaking it gently, Chrono placed the blanket back over Rosette's shoulders, rubbing them lightly.

Chrono broke the silence. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"Is everything alright?" Rosette asked, frowning.

"It's nothing that will kill me," Chrono responded dully, definitely sounding displeased with the fact. Rosette rolled her eyes at his dry assertion and reached out to sweep a lock of his wet hair away from his eyes.

Chrono closed his eyes and gave her a half smile as she fussed with his damp hair. She patted his head playfully as she would a small child when she was done, but before she could move away, Chrono took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. His rain soaked fingers felt like ice, which surprised Rosette. She had forgotten that even if he wasn't technically alive, Chrono's body probably remembered what it was like to feel temperature and become sick. Looking back on her own childhood, Rosette thought that it wouldn't be impossible for Chrono to have spent too much time in the rain and to have caught a fever when he was younger. And if his body remembered what it was like to have a fever, then Chrono would definitely be sick the next morning.

"You're freezing!" Rosette gasped, clutching his fingers with both hands in an effort to warm them up. "I shouldn't have left you to walk home by yourself!"

Chrono shook his head and withdrew his icy fingers from her warm touch. "I'm fine. And I'm happier knowing that you got home safely."

At his small forced smile, Rosette made a doubtful sound in the back of her throat. Chrono ignored her and moved towards the door, opening it easily. Rosette, however, wasn't going to let him get away without a heart to heart, no matter how pathetic he looked, so she reached out and held on to his elbow.

"You're not very good at lying," Rosette remarked with an arched eyebrow. "Are you upset I left with Dr. Remington?"

Chrono looked up, surprised. "What? No, not at all."

"Then why the kicked puppy look? There must be something wrong, and we're not going any further until we have a chat." Rosette's grip was firm, but Chrono made no move to try and get away like Joshua would have done in the same situation.

"I'm not upset about walking home in the rain, it's not the first time I've done it. And it was very kind of Dr. Remington to go out of his way to bring you home."

He had said it evenly, but Rosette clearly heard the underlying bitterness in the statement.

"Yes, it was nice of him," Rosette agreed, studying Chrono's face. "Especially since he doesn't live anywhere near here."

Chrono's expression was stony.

"And if I didn't know any better," Rosette continued, "I'd swear you were jealous."

Chrono's hand dropped from the doorknob, but still made no effort to move away like Rosette expected him to. She knew that unlike herself, Chrono hated confrontations, but she wasn't planning to allow him to escape.

For the relatively short amount of time that she'd known him, their arguments had always been either good-natured bickering, or one sided. If she ever decided to start a fight with the quiet boy, his gentle reasoning always made her feel guilty for picking on him. Unless she needed to vent, in which case Chrono seemed to understand that her anger wasn't really directed towards him and would take all the abuse. He was always willing to make concessions if he saw that Rosette was being hard headed, but if he knew he was right, then he would patiently explain his reasoning. And to Rosette's frustration, he was right quite often. Like about the faulty stair. Rosette had insisted that it would be fine, and Chrono had disagreed, saying it would only hold up a week. Sure enough, by the end of the week, Rosette's leg had gone through the stair, much to Chrono's amusement. He was definitely patient, and despite Rosette's combative nature, they had gotten along very well. But there were times when Chrono's introverted nature was almost self-destructive, and this seemed to be one of them. Chrono was refusing to meet her eyes and was frowning.

"You're not jealous, are you?" Rosette asked, her grip on Chrono's elbow firm.

Chrono turned to look at her now, his face serious, much too serious for a seventeen year old. There seemed to be a storm raging inside him, just close enough beneath the surface for Rosette to be able to detect its presence.

"Why would I be jealous?" Chrono asked, "I have no reason to be."

With that, he tried to make his escape, but Rosette's grip on his arm pulled him back. He glared at the offending hand, but remained sullenly silent when he saw that he wouldn't be able to get away.

"You mean a lot to me, you know that, right?" Rosette asked, looking at Chrono's face with concern. "These last few weeks have been great, I don't know what I would have done without you."

Those seemed to have been the right words to say because Chrono's shoulders crumpled, defeated. Obviously Rosette had touched on what had been bothering him. With a sigh, she opened her arms and pulled him into a tight hug. He only gave the slightest murmur of protest before leaning his forehead on her shoulder.

"It's hard, not being the one to look after you," Chrono murmured. "What else can I do?"

His words were hard, and suddenly, Rosette understood. It wasn't that he was jealous of Dr. Remington because she had, technically, been flirting with the Doctor, but rather because he was afraid of being replaced, though probably not in the romantic sense. Chrono, Rosette realised, was deathly afraid of not being needed. For the last few weeks, he had been feverishly joining her in her crusade to get the house looking habitable again, and Rosette finally understood that he did it not because he had any particular attachment to the house, but rather because helping her gave him the satisfaction of being needed. It gave him a sense of normalcy.

In a way, this hurt her ego a little bit, since she would have liked to think that she had two beautiful men interested in her romantically, ready to duel to the death to win her hand. Never mind that Dr. Remington only had eyes for Kate, and if those eyes ever wandered, Kate would definitely have something to say about it, and that Chrono was too nice to duel anyone to the death. Besides, if he ever did, she has the feeling that his undead status would give him an unfair advantage.

"Dr. Remington was just being nice." Rosette smiled even though she knew that he couldn't see it. "It's unlikely that he'll come to my rescue like that again, the job is all yours."

"Are you sure?" he murmured, stepping away from her embrace. "What happens when you leave Rosette? I'm bound by what I did during my lifetime. Just like I couldn't get into the Doctor's car, I wont be able to follow you. I never visited the big cities, hell, I don't think I've been much further than sixty miles away from this town."

"I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. And if your brother really holds me to my contract, I'll never leave," Rosette gave a sardonic smile, "Since I'll probably be dead before this house is 'restored'. It's falling apart faster than I can fix it."

The corner or Chrono's lips twitched upwards. This was enough encouragement for Rosette. She smirked. "Your brother is a real ass, he wont let me leave until he wants me to."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Chrono agreed, "He is rather unreasonable."

"Don't forget intimidating," Rosette shuddered. "And with all that money he has backing him, I doubt I would even make it to the border before his lawyers caught up with me."

Chrono smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'll miss you when you leave."

Rosette was starting to get irritated. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been trying to cheer you up you idiot. So stop angsting about your situation, I'm not gone yet. And you'll have to put up with me for quite a while. Besides, once this job is over, do you really think I'd leave and never come back?"

At Chrono's silence, Rosette slapped her forehead and let out a little frustrated groan. "You're impossible."

"I'm sorry," Chrono smiled sadly, "But I'm only being realistic. As much as I would like you to, you won't stay here forever."

"Well I don't have anywhere else to go until your brother pays me, so stop worrying." Rosette retorted, not completely unsympathetic. She understood Chrono's fear of being left alone again, but at the same time, she hated thinking about the future. It reminded her of how there was nothing for her after this job. With little education and even less prospects, her present situation was probably the best she could hope for. She wanted to live every moment to the fullest, without worrying about what lay ahead.

"You're right. Let's go inside, we've spent enough time outside," Chrono murmured as he opened the door. Rosette silently followed him inside.

It was raining harder than before and the wind allowed the rain to gradually reach the covered porch. It didn't look as though the rain was going to let up any time soon either, since in the distance Rosette could hear the looming crash of thunder.

She hadn't said a word about it earlier, but she was definitely still worried about Chrono getting sick. His thick nineteen twenties clothing had soaked up water like a sponge, and she could see him suppress the occasional shiver. He would have to get out of his wet clothing, but Rosette had the feeling that he didn't have a change of clothes.

They had tackled his old room a few days ago, and it hadn't been a pretty sight. The door had been boarded up, and when they managed to get inside, it was safe to say that it had been left untouched for at least seventy years. Someone had stopped all the clocks at 4:26, reminding Rosette of a Dickens novel Joshua mentioned once where an old lady had stopped time on the day she had been jilted. Moths had eaten most of his clothes and the rest had the unpleasant musty smell of rotting clothing. The only possible alternative to his own clothing would be to have him wear the pair of pants Joshua had left behind.

"You should take off your wet clothing, you'll catch something," Rosette ordered Chrono, "I'll put your stuff in the dryer."

Chrono shook his head. "That won't work, we'll have to let it hang."

Rosette groaned. Right, no dryers in the twenties. Not for the first time since she'd met Chrono, Rosette thanked God that she lived in a time where technology did all the work for her.

"We'll hang them, in that case. I'll go get Joshua's clothes, you're both about the same size." Rosette handed Chrono her coat, ignoring his doubtful look.

She was barely halfway up the stairs, almost past young Aion's icy glare when a bright flash illuminated the room. Milliseconds later, the sky sounded as though it were being torn apart. Another, a more electrical flash and the lights died, along with the hum of the electrical appliances.

Rosette gave a loud groan, inching away from Aion's portrait when lightning illuminated it again, making it look even more sinister than it did in broad daylight.

"It's a power outage," Chrono announced from the bottom of the stairs.

"No shit Sherlock," Rosette grumbled, feeling her way along the wall. She wanted to spend as little time as possible in close quarters with Aion, even if it was only his portrait. "Go check the fuse box!" Rosette called out down the stairs.

"No way!" Chrono shot back, "It's in the cellar. You go check the fuse box!"

Rosette tried hard not to whimper, dread filling her at the thought of having to go to the cellar. "Are you sure it's in the cellar?" She asked, trying to make out Chrono's form at the bottom of the stairs, but all she could see were moving shadows. It made shivers run down her spine.

And if the main hall was creepy, the cellar was a thousand times worse. Even Chrono, who didn't bat an eye when rats jumped out of drawers, admitted that after being locked down there as a child he had developed an appropriate amount of loathing for the place.

"Positive. Elder seemed to think it was the best place to put it." Chrono shot back.

Not for the first time since starting work on the house, Rosette started cursing Elder in nasty and creative ways.

"Forget it then. If you aren't going to the cellar, then I'm definitely not going there. It's probably a problem with the exterior lines anyways." Rosette replied, continuing up the stairs blindly. She nearly tripped when she reached the last step, but quickly regained her balance and felt her way along the hall.

Reaching her room with a few bruises to show for her effort, she felt her way to the corner of the room where she had placed Joshua's clothing. He had left a pair of jogging pants behind in the dryer accidentally, but hadn't left a shirt. Rosette fumbled a little in her drawers to try and find the non-descript white t-shirt she had stolen from her brother a few years ago. Even though it was slightly big on her, it should probably fit Chrono's slender form despite his broad shoulders. A few bursts of lightning later she was pretty sure that she had found the right shirt and quickly headed back down the stairs.

Chrono wasn't anywhere to be seen, and Rosette wasn't in the mood to grope her way around the creepy old mansion, so she sat on the bottom step and waited for him. Everything was deathly silent without the familiar hum of the electrical appliances, and the rhythmic pounding of the rain was only interrupted by the occasional crash of thunder.

"Maybe he changed his mind and went to look at the fuse box?" Rosette wondered to herself doubtfully. It was highly unlikely that Chrono was in the cellar, and if he was, there was no way she would go check.

Her question was answered soon enough anyways when Rosette saw the soft glow of candlelight emanating from hall where the library was. Chrono emerged from the darkness holding an old oil lamp in each hand. He looked ethereal in the dim light, and she was never more pleased to see him than she was now.

"Took you long enough," Rosette said, but her words had no bite to them.

"I couldn't find the matches," Chrono explained, handing Rosette one of the oil lamps. "Be careful not to burn yourself."

Rosette took the lamp and held it carefully, somewhat worried that the whole thing would explode if the fire reached the rest of the oil. "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

"Considering that it's probably older than I am? No." Chrono replied, a grin gracing his features for the first time that day. "But until I bring some firewood inside, it will have to do."

"Firewood?" Rosette repeated, a bit alarmed, "You're not starting a fire, are you?"

"Of course I am, I'm freezing," Chrono replied, and Rosette couldn't argue with that, even in the dim light she could see that he was shivering and that his lips were an unhealthy shade of blue. "That's why we had the chimney cleaned out."

It was true that the person who had inspected the structure of the house had given the green light for the chimney, saying that it was still usable. Chrono had insisted they hire a chimney sweep soon after, even if Rosette hadn't seen the point of doing so. And she still wasn't sure that it was a good idea to use the fireplace. Wasn't it dangerous? If the house caught fire, they would both be screwed. Rosette voiced her opinion to Chrono who laughed in face, much to her consternation.

"If there are no bird nests or debris stuck in the shaft, we have nothing to worry about. The chimney sweep took care of that, I checked, so don't worry about it." Chrono was heading towards the kitchen to get the wood in the back. Rosette, not wanting to be left alone with the paintings of disgruntled-looking former Black patriarchs, decided to follow close behind him.

He was already out the back door and grabbing a log, balancing it perilously on his arm while still holding the oil lamp. Rosette rushed forward and offered to hold his lamp for him.

Chrono nodded his thanks as she took the lamp from him. He took the opportunity to take a few more dry logs, piling them as high as he could. "We should have enough with three or four logs for the night. Why don't you grab the newspaper on the way by?"

Rosette turned around and saw that the newspaper she had been reading that morning was still spread out on the kitchen table. "You aren't going to read this one?" She asked Chrono who was skilfully closing the back door with his heel.

"I read it before you got up," he answered simply and was starting to walk out of the kitchen and into the darkness. Despite being the one with the lamps, Rosette didn't relish the thought of being left behind, alone, with only the storm raging outside to keep her company, so she quickly grabbed the newspaper and followed him into the hall.

Chrono entered the small sitting room and dropped the logs on the brick floor in front of the fireplace.

"You cleaned this room well Rosette. It looks almost exactly like did eighty years ago, perhaps even better." Chrono smiled sincerely, opening the grate.

Rosette looked around the room doubtfully. Sure, there were no more white sheets over the furniture, and she had taken all the chairs to be reupholstered, the carpets had been cleaned, the floors polished and there was a new coat of paint on all the walls and mouldings, but in the dim light the room still looked eerie.

'But then, I guess that Chrono is used to seeing things in the dim light. Or maybe those seventy years with only spiders and Elder to keep him company have skewed Chrono's view of things.' Rosette thought, grateful that she wasn't alone in the house.

Chrono had taken his overcoat off and Rosette could see now that even his white, stiffly starched shirt was soaked through and clung to him like a second skin. She enjoyed the view of his back muscles moving in the dim light of a few minutes before reluctantly going to get his change of clothes, which she had left on the stairs.

She had generously left the two lamps behind with Chrono to illuminate the area while he worked, but now, even though she was just a few meters away from him, Rosette was regretting it. She shivered in the dark entrance hall, quickly grabbing the clothing off the stairs, wanting to return to the warmth of Chrono's presence as soon as possible.

She froze when she heard the back door slam shut.

A thousand thoughts ran wildly in her mind, and she stood deathly still, hoping it was her imagination. Chrono though, quickly came out of the sitting room with a lamp in hand.

"Was that you?" He asked quietly, a worried frown marring his features. Rosette shook her head and reluctantly followed him when he headed to the kitchen to inspect the noise.

She would rather be with him than alone in another room. In the back of her mind, a tiny cynical voice reminded her that if someone had broken into the house, there wasn't much Chrono would be able to do about it since the intruder wouldn't be able to see or feel him. Rosette squashed that voice. If there was someone in the house, there were plenty of things in the kitchen with which she could hurt them.

But when they entered the kitchen, it was suspiciously empty. There was a puddle of water near the door, but Chrono could have made that when he was bringing in the logs.

"Must have been the wind." Rosette murmured, picking up a few leaves and branches that were in the puddle.

"I could have sworn I locked it." Chrono was still frowning. His gaze was moved to rest on the door leading to the cellar. It was still closed, and looked harmless in the dim light.

"You want to take a look around to make sure?" Rosette was about to throw the twigs in the garbage when Chrono's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"Were these on the floor?" Chrono asked, gently taking the crumpled leaves from her hands and observing them.

Rosette gave him an odd look. "Is everything alright?"

"These are oak." Chrono said. He placed the leaf on the kitchen table and eyed it thoughtfully. "The only oak on the property is the one by the river."

Rosette frowned as well. "You mean the one that someone tried to hack up? It's windy tonight Chrono, it wouldn't surprise me that they were blown all the way here from the river."

Chrono shook his head. "I know. I'm probably overreacting, but I have the feeling I'm forgetting something important. Or maybe that the memory was never there."

Rosette's hand tightened into a fist. Her eye flickered to the oak leaves on the table. "I don't like the sound of that."

Chrono was looking out the back window, his gaze dark. "Me neither."

He took up his lamp again and pushed open the door that connected the Spartan, newly modernized kitchen to the formerly lavish dining room. Rosette quickly pulled out a butcher knife and followed a few steps behind.

They walked around the massive table and looked around the empty room carefully. The large windows occasionally flashed with light, but the room was silent. Rosette could see the piano in the corner, now alone in the room.

"Nothing looks disturbed." Rosette noted, "And the floors aren't wet. You must have just forgotten to lock the door."

Chrono made a non-committal sound, but his tense shoulders were reluctantly beginning to relax. A few more rounds around the hall and the library, and Chrono admitted that it must have been the wind. Both agreed that the incident was creepy and left it at that.

They made their way back to the sitting room and Chrono knelt next to the fireplace to continue his work on the fire. There was a companionable silence, and Rosette had to admit that it was nice to watch Chrono, and not only because the rear view was pleasant. For the past few weeks she had noticed that he was happiest when she gave him things to do, but she had never really understood why until their discussion on the porch. Chrono was really too responsible for a teenager. She would have to corrupt him a bit, maybe take him drinking one day.

When the newspaper caught fire, Chrono stood up and surveyed his work with pleasure. The crackling logs illuminated the room, immediately making it bright and pleasant. Rosette gathered Joshua's clothing, and held the bundle out to Chrono.

"Hurry and strip, here are Joshua's pants and a shirt." Rosette said, "If you stay in your wet clothes much longer you'll catch something."

Chrono raised an eyebrow, but was too gentlemanly to make any lewd remarks. "Are you certain Joshua wouldn't mind?"

Rosette just chuckled. "You ask it as though I'd ever tell him that I'm lending his pants to Mr. Black's older brother."

"Half-brother." Chrono corrected, but chuckled. "But when you put it that way, I suppose it would be best to keep Joshua in the dark."

Modestly, he headed towards the other room to change, taking his shirt off along the way. Rosette watched him leave out of the corner of her eye, not trying very hard to hide the fact that she was hoping to catch a glimpse of some flesh. She was rewarded with a clear view of his pale back as he turned the corner. Rosette sat back with a smile and waited for him to come back.

It didn't take him very long. He returned with his wet clothing draped over his arm, shoes in hand. Her eyes moved down to his bare feet, which padded quietly on the wooden floor.

It was strange to see him wearing modern clothing. In his own coarse, grey nineteen twenties clothing, Chrono looked severe, but with Joshua's faded sweat pants hanging loosely at his hips and Rosette's own shirt hugging his shoulders snugly, he looked like any other seventeen year old, albeit one that carried himself with a certain amount of grace. The sight of him took her breath away.

Chrono seemed to notice that she was staring at him and gave her a shy smile. She smiled back and admired him as he stepped out of the hall's shadows. She had often acknowledged that Chrono was handsome, but with his hair looking dishevelled and a bit of skin peeking out from his too short shirt, Chrono looked almost too good.

"Very nice," Rosette complimented. "You look your age now."

"Are you sure these look alright?" His voice was doubtful, but there was nothing self-conscious about the way he held himself. "They don't seem to fit right."

"The pants are meant to be loose, and the shirt… well, I see nothing wrong with it." Rosette said with a cheeky grin. Chrono just sighed, but wasn't altogether displeased by the remark.

"Now all you need are some piercings or something equally rebellious and you would really fit in."

Chrono looked alarmed. "Piercings?" He echoed, stopping mid stride.

Rosette laughed at his shocked expression. "Never mind. I don't think you're the type." She chuckled, "Too old fashioned."

Chrono looked torn between agreeing and being affronted, which made him look even sexier, in Rosette's opinion. Finally, he decided on being affronted. "I didn't realise that you thought of me as such."

Rosette threw her head back in a hearty laugh. "Don't be insulted! It's not a bad thing." She patted the floor next to her, beckoning him to come sit next to her near the fire. "Come sit. It's getting warmer here."

He draped his wet clothing over the back of a chair and complied, sitting on the carpet close to Rosette. From the cracking of his stiff joints, Rosette could tell that he definitely needed to warm up. She watched him rub his ankle restlessly.

"In what way am I old fashioned?" Chrono asked, not dropping the topic. Rosette guessed that she had ruffled his feathers the wrong way. She had to admit that for someone from his generation, Chrono was remarkably moderate and open-minded. But she wasn't going to pass up on the opportunity to tease him.

"What are your views on pre-marital sex?" Rosette asked with a smirk. She took sadistic pleasure in watching Chrono turn an unhealthy shade of red at her question. His hands stopped rubbing his ankle.

"What?" He asked, looking extremely flustered.

"You heard me." Rosette grinned as he shifted uncomfortably.

"How can you ask that so casually?" Chrono asked, embarrassed. He obviously hadn't expected that kind of question.

"Point proven!" Rosette laughed, warming her hands by the fire. "But I was just joking Chrono, you don't have to answer that."

There was an uncomfortable silence, which Rosette enjoyed immensely. She smirked, wondering if Chrono would be brave enough to say anything else on the topic. Chrono shifted and looked at the fire thoughtfully.

"I suppose things have changed since my time, but I'm of the opinion that it's fine among fiancées." He finally stated.

Rosette raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Chrono turned to observe her. "Well? Is that old fashioned?"

Rosette laughed at the uncertainty in his voice. "Pretty much. But that's fine Chrono, don't change."

Chrono smiled sadly. "You know I can't."

Rosette leaned over and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I don't know, I think you have since we've met. You're a lot more open."

She didn't give Chrono the time to respond before she used his knee to push herself up. "Stay here, I'll got get a blanket."

Rosette left her spot on the carpet and Chrono was left to contemplate her words. He didn't feel as though he had changed at all, but when he thought back on what the real Chrono was like, he had to agree.

Alive, Chrono had been reclusive and preferred to be alone. Aion, once he had gotten over his moodiness, became the natural leader, the one who attracted people, not him. He had a shy nature and never would have been as forward with a girl like he was now being with Rosette. Perhaps those seventy years of solitude had changed him? That might be the case, but Chrono felt as though there were more to it than that. As a memory, he should only be able to do things he had done while alive, but he couldn't for the life of him remember a time when he had flirted or been so moody. That was more Aion's style.

Rosette soon came back with the blanket, which she draped gently over Chrono's shoulders, disrupting his thoughts. She knelt down behind him and rubbed his arms a bit like she would rub that of a child's to warm him up. She smiled when he leaned back into her embrace.

"I'd like to think you're right," Chrono said quietly as he watched the fire, "I don't think I was ever this close to Magdalene, even though we grew up together."

"Who's Magdalene?" Rosette asked curiously, messaging his shoulders a bit.

Chrono's eyes were starting to get heavy. Rosette watched him shift a little to rest against her. "She was my fiancée."

Rosette's hands froze. "Fiancée?"

Chrono noticed how rigid she had gone and tried to reassure her. "Not by choice, of course. By the time I was fifteen my father had squandered off most of our assets, so the marriage would have saved the Blacks from ruin."

"So it was purely financial? You would have just married some random wealthy girl?" Rosette asked, a little upset. For some reason, the thought that marriage meant so little to Chrono hurt her deeply. She couldn't remember her parents well anymore, but she knew that theirs had been a happy, loving marriage.

Chrono shook his head. "No, of course not. I grew up with Magdalene and we respected each other. She understood my situation, and I think we could have grown to love each other. But we never made it to the altar."

"Oh," was the only thing Rosette could bring herself to say. She felt a little silly for getting so worked up about it. Chrono never ended up getting married since he probably died before the wedding. And she hadn't even been born at the time.

Chrono glanced over his shoulder with a teasing smile. "Why, you're not jealous are you?"

Rosette sputtered a little. "What? Of course not! What's there to be jealous of?" She ignored how familiar the accusation of jealousy sounded and crossed her arms. "I'll bet she was ugly anyways."

Chrono chuckled and leaned back into Rosette's embrace again, breathing deeply. "It doesn't matter anymore. Besides, judging by the resemblance Azmaria bears her, I think it's safe to say that she ended up marrying Aion."

Rosette raised an eyebrow. She would have to get the girl to come over again in that case, bitch of a maid and all. Curiosity made her want to know what Chrono's fiancée had looked like. Maybe Azmaria has pictures of her great grandmother? She made a mental note to start doing some research on the Black family.

She hesitated a little before asking her next question though. It was rare that Chrono willingly divulged information about himself and she didn't want to ruin it by asking a question that was too personal.

"Does that bother you? That she ended up with someone else?" Rosette finally asked.

Chrono looked up, a little surprised by the question. "No, not at all. I cared about her, but I think Aion's feelings ran deeper. He was always reprimanding me for not loving her enough. I didn't understand at the time why he was so concerned about that." Chrono smiled softly.

Rosette smiled as well, strangely relieved. She knew that it was rather selfish of her to be happy that Chrono didn't regret losing his fiancée, but she seemed to be getting more selfish when it came to Chrono. She wanted him to herself, and she wasn't sure how to interpret her possessiveness.

With a sigh she wrapped her arms around Chrono, pulling him even closer to him and watched the fire with him. The room was already starting to be pleasantly warm and colour was slowly returning to Chrono's lips. He reached up and placed a warm hand over hers.

"Things are simpler now, but at the same time much more complicated." Chrono murmured, staring into the flames. Rosette rested her cheek against his.

"Yeah," Rosette agreed, playing with a stray lock of Chrono's hair. "But we'll work things out. It's complicated, but how we feel about each other has to count for something, right?"

Chrono turned to face her, a small smile on his lips. "It must."

Rosette barely registering that she was leaning in. Chrono tilted his head up and their lips connected softly.

Rosette was surprised by the gentleness of the action. It was nothing more than a brush of lips together, hesitant and ghost-like. Rosette didn't pull away though, and that was all the encouragement Chrono needed to lean in again and capture her lips again, this time more insistent. She returned the kiss slowly at first, surprised by the intensity she felt from the normally reserved Chrono. He seemed to be looking for something, maybe confirmation that she wasn't going to reject him or what he felt. She reached out to bury her hands in his still wet hair, trying to minimise the space between them. Pushing him away was the furthest thing on Rosette's mind.

* * *

Reviews don't make me type any faster, but they do make me procrastinate and avoid other non-fic related work. 


	9. A Sea of Graves

Hello. (scratches the back of her head) Yes, I'm still alive, believe it or not. This update is long overdue, sorry for the delay. All your reviews were really encouraging, so please accept my excuses for waiting half a year to update. I wrote this chapter pretty fast though, so please point out any mistakes. Next time I'll try and run it by a Beta.

* * *

**Shades of the Past**

**Chapter 9 – A Sea of Graves**

* * *

Chrono was the first to pull away, looking slightly dazed. His eyes were unfocused, and his breathing was uneven. Rosette knew she must look the same: flushed and mussed, eyes hazy with something not quite identifiable. Her hands were trembling slightly but managed to cup Chrono's cheeks and pressed her lips to his again, softly, partly because it simply felt right, but also to reassure herself that it had really happened. 

She was surprised to feel him deepen the kiss. A short groan escaped her before she responded and her mind went pleasantly blank. Time seemed to stop and speed up all at the same time as she lost awareness of what was going on around her. She somehow ended up with her face pressed into his neck and his arms wound up tightly around her. He placed soft affectionate kisses on the crown of her head and she could practically feel a kind of dazed happiness radiating from him. Rosette knew that he was not really alive, but she could feel his pulse racing beneath his bared neck. He was warm, and she could still smell the dampness of his body. Everything about him radiated warmth, comfort. She sighed into his shoulder, enjoying the moment.

The fire crackled occasionally in the background, and for the first time in a while, Rosette felt completely at peace. The house was perfectly silent, if you ignored the howling of the wind outside and the rain angrily hitting the house's large windows. As she listened to Chrono's breathing slowly even out, she was struck by crazy this all was. And by how highly unlikely their meeting was. What if Joshua had never brought Aion Black's ad to her attention?

'_Old house in need of caretaker_' hadn't sounded particularly exciting. Nor was the salary Aion offered anything worth taking. It was when Joshua half jokingly pointed out that she wasn't going to spend any of her own money while she was housed out in the middle of nowhere that she changed her mind. And the fact that the job included room and board didn't hurt. Of course she hadn't known at the time that the house was haunted and a dump.

But everything had fit together so perfectly. Chrono had once mentioned that he had known her name for a long time now, but couldn't recall ever meeting her before she started working on the house. Things like that made Rosette wonder if maybe someone was messing with fate. After all, if Chrono wasn't a memory, he'd be what? Ninety-eight years old?

"Ninety three." Chrono corrected her, "I was only born in 1913."

Both Chrono and Rosette froze. Rosette because she realised that she had never said anything out loud, and Chrono because he couldn't believe what he had just said.

"Did you just read my mind?" Rosette asked slowly, pulling away to look at Chrono.

Chrono looked just as shocked as she was. "I think so. But you were thinking so loudly, I couldn't help it!"

"What do you mean you couldn't help it?!" Rosette cried out, "Do you realist how ridiculous that statement is? Why didn't you tell me you could read minds?"

"I didn't know I could! Normally all I hear is static, or fragments of ideas, feelings. I guess we were just so close right now that…" He trailed off, blushing a bit. "What I mean to say is that I don't normally hear clear thoughts. I didn't mean hear your thoughts like that, and I would never intentionally invade your privacy. I'm sorry."

Rosette didn't like how guilty and mortified he looked. Wasn't she the one who just had her brain raped? How dare he make her feel guilty for spazzing at him!

"What do you mean you didn't know you could? Is this really the first time you've read my mind?" Rosette continued with her interrogation, although her tone was gentler than she intended.

"Like I said, normally I just hear static, or feel whatever you're feeling when I touch you, nothing else. I thought I was just imagining things, but I suppose this confirms it." Chrono looked away, looking embarrassed.

So that explained why he liked to touch her so much, Rosette thought bitterly. But it felt wrong to think that. She knew that there was more to it, Chrono definitely felt the same way about her as she felt for him, their kiss had confirmed that. Right?

Chrono gave her a small smile. "I can't hear your thoughts clearly anymore, you'll have to tell me what you're thinking. I just know you're confused."

"Yeah, I am." Rosette confirmed. "We care for each other, right? It's not just me?"

"Of course not." Chrono relaxed, "I can't even begin to tell you how much you mean to me Rosette. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about being able to pick up on some of your emotions, but trust me, it's been very helpful. I don't understand why this is happening though, Chrono was never able to read minds."

Chrono looked thoughtful. It was weird to hear him talk about himself in third person, it reminded Rosette that 'memory Chrono' was a different entity from the boy in the painting by the stairs. The thought made her uneasy.

"What do you mean Chrono was never able to read minds? Aren't you a copy of Chrono?" Rosette asked, grabbing one of his hands to reassure him, even if it meant that he could probably feel how troubled she was. But he seemed to appreciate the gesture and held tightly on to her hands.

"That's what I thought. At least, that's the conclusion I came to over the years. But Chrono's powers were strictly limited to manipulating time. Aion was the one who could see into people's souls." Chrono admitted. "And Chrono wasn't nearly as moody as I am. I have some of his memories, but not all of them. And some memories seem like they belong to someone else."

Rosette tried to sort through this information, to make it more palatable. "Some memories seem to belong to someone else? That sounds crazy."

"So is my whole existence." Chrono smiled sadly.

"Hey. No going emo on me again." Rosette glared at him. Chrono had the good sense to look sheepish. Rosette continued, "We know you're here for a reason, and that you're mostly a copy of Chrono Black. Maybe some things just got added in as an after thought?"

Chrono smiled at that. "Maybe."

Rosette squeezed his hand. "And I don't think you're here just because of your demon ancestry. Where did you come up with the idea that you were a 'memory', and not a ghost? This whole 'memory' thing is a pretty weird concept."

"I don't know. I guess I kind of woke up with the knowledge that I wasn't a ghost, but rather that someone had created me. I can't explain it any other way, I'm sorry." Chrono lowered his head, but Rosette caught his chin.

"Stop apologizing. It's alright if you don't know the extent of your powers, or what's going on. It's pretty obvious that this is complicated beyond our understanding. And I'm not offended that you read my mind. According to Joshua, there's nothing important in there anyways." Rosette smiled at him, and he gave a shy smile in return.

"I'm really glad you're here Rosette." Chrono said simply, trying to convey how much affection he felt for her in those words.

"I'm glad I'm here too." She leaned in and gave him another soft kiss. "That discussion really killed the mood though."

Chrono laughed. "Yes, it really did. But I guess I'll have to find out the extent of my powers, I don't really want to be surprised like that again."

Rosette smiled. "Good idea. I know you don't like this whole demon ancestry stuff, but I'd feel better if you knew what you're capable of. I hate being in the dark. I mean, it's pretty obvious that something is going on here, and for some reason I have a feeling Aion knows more than us."

Chrono's eyes darkened. "You're probably right. Aion always knows more than he lets on." He sighed. "And I suppose it was naïve of me to think that I could pretend that I was normal. Going into town today kind of woke me up."

"I hope you're not still upset about today." Rosette gave him a searching glance.

"No." The intense glare that Rosette directed at him made Chrono falter. "Well, maybe a little. But you know what I am and you're still agreeing to stay here with me, so I suppose I'm a little less anxious. I just don't particularly like the thought of being useless again."

'And alone' was left unsaid, but Rosette understood and nodded.

"Should we add another log to the fire?" Rosette asked. Chrono turned to study the fire. He was about to answer her question when Rosette's cell phone rang. Surprised, Chrono paused. Rosette blinked.

"My cell is ringing. I left it in the entrance, would you come with me?" Rosette asked, her voice even and not betraying her unwillingness to go back to the dark entrance way. But Chrono could tell by how tense her hand was that she didn't want to go there alone.

Chrono nodded and followed behind Rosette with one of the oil lamps. Rosette's phone kept ringing angrily as she sat on the stairs to fish through her purse. Finally, she pulled it out and flipped it open.

"_Took you long enough_," was the caustic greeting from the other end.

"Mr. Black." Rosette acknowledged warily. Chrono sat down next to her on the stairs and strained to listen in.

"_I want an update on your progress_," The voice on the other side of the line demanded, "_Seeing as my credit card bills have been rather extravagant lately_."

"Your plastic can handle it." Rosette mumbled something about a rich bastard under her breath. Chrono paled considerably, but was listening carefully out of interest. Rosette put up the volume on her phone and held it so that Chrono could hear both sides to the conversation.

"With all due respect, restoring a house that's been inhabited by cobwebs and rats for seventy years is an expensive task." Rosette continued, a little annoyed that her boss was disturbing her quality time with Chrono. At the same time, she was struck by how weird it was to be in a relationship with said boss' older brother. The thought almost made her chuckle.

"_Yes, I'll admit that it hasn't had the most… useful… caretaker for the last seventy years_." Rosette could almost hear Aion's smirk. Chrono frowned at this remark. "_But that's no excuse. How are the repairs coming along?_"

"Fewer building codes are being violated if that's what you call progress." Rosette replied. "There's some structural damage on the western wall, and I can't seem to get anyone to fix the wiring in the cellar. Apparently trying to figure out Elder's work is like decoding alien technology, and this house's reputation for being haunted scares off more potential workers than you could imagine."

"_I didn't ask for your excuses, I want concrete progress_." Aion retorted.

Rosette's eye twitched dangerously, and the plastic casing of her telephone creaked in her hand. Chrono's eyes widened in alarm, and he made placating gestures.

"It's alright Rosette," he murmured quietly, "don't get upset, it's not worth it. Just tell him that the chimney is in working order, and most of the downstairs rooms are freshly painted. The windows have been changed, the plaster is done in most of the house, and most of the vermin has been taken care of."

Rosette obediently repeated everything that Chrono had told her, and tried to focus on the circles he was rubbing on her knee in an effort to calm her down. She couldn't afford to get on Aion Black's bad side. If he conveniently 'forgot' to pay her, she'd be screwed. She calmed herself down a bit and waited for his response, but instead of commenting on what she had carefully repeated from Chrono, Aion changed the subject.

"_I take it you received my package?_" Aion asked suddenly.

Rosette glanced at the pile of bags she had dumped near the door as soon as she had gotten in. "Uh, yeah, I did."

"_I would appreciate it if you didn't open that right away, I'm sending my electrician to the house next week and that package is for her_." Aion's tone was final. Rosette was curious to know what the package contained now, but decided she wasn't going to risk it.

"Sure, I'll leave it out."

A flash of lightening illuminated the room and was followed by a deafening crash of thunder. Rosette's phone signal cut off for a moment, but didn't disconnect.

"At this rate we'll never get the power back." Rosette murmured to Chrono, who nodded in agreement.

"The storm only seems to be getting stronger. It's a good thing we got back when we did." Chrono replied.

Rosette nodded absently and focused once again on her conversation with Aion. "Sorry about that Mr. Black, we're experiencing quite a storm here."

"_Is the power out_?" Aion's tone demanded an immediate answer.

"Uh… yes, it is." Rosette replied. "But everything's fine, I've got a fire going and--"

"_Are you sure the power is out?_" Aion snapped.

"Seeing as I don't dare go in the cellar, I can't tell you if it's just a breaker that jumped. But there's no electricity anywhere inside the house." Rosette stated firmly.

Aion was silent for a moment, as though he were processing this information. Rosette could have sworn she heard him give a weary sigh, which made him sound frighteningly old. He was so stern and domineering that she often forgot he was in his nineties.

"_If there's no power at all in the house, I'd ask you to stay indoors. Don't open any doors, any windows. And stay far away from the river and the oak tree. Is that understood? My electrician will be there tomorrow morning._"

Rosette took the phone away from her ear and just stared at it as though it were a pink banana. Why did he suddenly decide to send in his electrician now? It was just a power outage; the power should be back up in a couple of hours. And what did staying away from the river have to do with anything? Obviously she wasn't going to go anywhere near the river in this weather. Mr. Black was becoming senile, that was the only way to explain his orders. Hesitantly she brought the phone back to her ear.

"Uh, ok?" Rosette replied.

"_I mean it Ms Christopher, stay far away from that tree if the power is out_." Aion growled at her. That sounded more like the bitter Mr. Black she was familiar with. She glanced at Chrono to see what he thought about this order, but his expression was deadly serious.

"Let him know that the back door was opened Rosette." Chrono said quietly. Rosette gaped at him. Placing her hand over the receiver, she whispered back fiercely.

"Do you have any idea what he's ranting about?"

"No, but I've got a bad feeling about that door opening and closing by itself. Tell him that the back door was opened somehow, and that we found oak-tree leaves on the floor." Chrono replied firmly.

"You're both crazy." Rosette hissed and removed her hand from the receiver. "Mr Black? Yes, I just remembered that the back door was opened a while back. It was probably just the wind, I might not of closed it properly when I went out to get some wood. And there were some oak leaves on the floor when I came back to see what the noise was."

Mr. Black was silent again for a long time. Finally, his voice calm and even, he told Rosette firmly, "_Go to the second floor and don't come back down until my electrician arrives tomorrow morning._"

With that, he hung up. The blare of the dial tone signalled to Chrono and Rosette that this was the end of the conversation.

Rosette pulled the phone away from her ear again and sneered at it. "No goodbyes. Ever." She flipped it shut with an audible click and shoved it into her purse. "I wonder what on earth he going on about?"

Chrono looked thoughtful. "We should probably let the fire die and go upstairs."

Rosette glanced at Chrono to see if he was going to explain what was on his mind, but he simply got up from his seat on the stairs, shot a searching look towards the kitchen, and pulled her towards the sitting room. She didn't protest, just got up from the stairs and followed along behind him. She also glanced towards the kitchen, but couldn't see anything in the darkness.

In the sitting room the fire was almost dead. The remaining log was mostly in embers, and when Chrono used the poker to stir it, it crumbled to ash. Chrono closed the grate and turned to face Rosette.

"I don't know what's going on, but if Aion's worried, it's no laughing matter. I'm sure I locked the back door, and if we didn't find anyone, it's probably because our intruder wasn't human."

"What do you mean it wasn't a human intruder? Is there any other kind?" Rosette laughed but Chrono's expression remained serious.

"I'd like to remind you that this house was inhabited for over a century by people with demonic ancestry." Chrono murmured. "Isn't my existence proof enough that we should take Aion's warning seriously?"

Rosette stood there a few moments, absorbing this information. She had forgotten that all the grim-faced men whose portraits hung by the stairwell all had demonic powers. It was a sobering thought. Chrono was easy to get along with, but what if she had to deal with a ghost with Aion's personality? The thought made her shudder.

"Are you sure that it wasn't just the wind?" Rosette asked quietly. Chrono offered her a small smile.

"It wouldn't hurt to take Aion's warning seriously. Come, let's go upstairs, I'll stay with you tonight."

Rosette was glad the room was rather dark, she knew blood was rushing to her cheeks. She hoped to god Chrono couldn't see what she had thought when he said that. She covered up her embarrassment with a half-hearted protest.

"What do you mean you're staying with me tonight? I don't need a babysitter."

She couldn't see him very clearly by lamplight, but Rosette knew Chrono was giving her an exasperated smile. "Please don't argue with me about this Rosette. I'll use your sleeping bag or I'll sleep on the floor, but either way, I don't think it's a good idea for either of us to sleep alone tonight. I'm certain I'm forgetting something really important about that tree."

Chrono handed Rosette one of the oil lamps and left the room with the other, leaving Rosette to stare at his retreating back. Rosette stood alone in the room for a moment before hurrying after him. He was already halfway up the stairs, passing by the portraits of Aion and himself when he turned back to watch her progress. She stubbed her toe on one of the stairs and cursed a bit before making it to the top of the stairs. Normally this was where Chrono parted with her and went to his own room at the end of the hall, but today he waited patiently at the first door next to the stairs, the room she had chosen for herself.

"You can't be serious." She muttered. Sure, she didn't really want to be left alone since Chrono's room was rather far away, but at the same time she was uneasy about spending the night in the same room as him. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; it was more that she didn't trust herself. And how was she going to get through the night with the knowledge that he could be reading her thoughts?

But she entered the room when Chrono opened the door for her, and didn't say anything when he came in and locked the door behind him. Rosette placed the lamp on a night table and glanced at Chrono, who had made his way across the room to look out the window.

"This storm is really something, but I doubt that those branches got inside the house on their own. You know that I died near the river, right?"

"Uh…" was Rosette's stunned response. If she someone had told her before, she hadn't really remembered it. "Really?"

"Yes. I hadn't really remembered that piece of information until I started wondering why Aion was so worried about the oak tree. Pieces of the memory are starting to come back to me. I know I died near the river, and I'm pretty sure it was because someone shot me."

Rosette shivered. Chrono's voice had been flat, emotionless when he said that. Something about those words made her sick to her stomach.

"Are you sure?" Rosette ventured carefully, "You told me before that you didn't remember your death."

Chrono's eyes were hard. His grip on the window ledge tightened. "I'm deadly certain. Strange thing is, I can only remember brief flashes of it. It's like something is stopping me from accessing those memories."

"Maybe it's better that way." Rosette murmured. "You shouldn't have to remember that."

"I'd rather not," Chrono admitted, moving away from the window. "But at the same time, I know that I'm forgetting something important about that day."

Rosette made a murmur of agreement, and then told Chrono to turn around while she got changed. Obediently, he did as he was told, and Rosette was a bit disappointed that he didn't even try to peek. After quickly slipping on a pair of pyjama pants and a top, Rosette sat on the edge of the bed.

Chrono settled in the chair near the window, not a completely unfamiliar position. Rosette studied him and tried to compare her first impression of Chrono with the person she now knew him to be. He seemed to be less lonely, yet much more vulnerable. It worried her to know that Chrono didn't understand his own existence or the limit of his own powers. It seemed strange to her that after seventy years to try and figure it out, he was no closer to understanding the big picture than she was. His complacency frustrated Rosette, but at the same time she understood that Chrono's years of solitude had probably made him bitter about his demonic heritage. But he seemed happier now. He smiled more frequently now, and was slowly starting to let her know things about himself. Despite Chrono's insecurities, his presence gave Rosette the same sense of safety and peacefulness as she had felt when he had first told her to go back to sleep.

"You aren't going to sleep in the chair, are you?" Rosette asked.

Chrono nodded slightly. "I'll keep watch, don't worry about me."

Rosette raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply. Instead, she slipped under the covers and blew out her lamp. She knew better than to argue with Chrono when he had that stubborn expression on his face. Besides, it was rather comforting to have Chrono watching over her, although she wasn't convinced that there was anything to be worried about. Both Black brothers were acting strange without providing her with a concrete threat. She hated being left in the dark, but she disliked worrying over nothing even more. She turned over to glance at Chrono, who was deep in thought.

"Goodnight." She murmured. "Get some sleep eventually."

Illuminated by the dim light of his lamp, Chrono smiled reassuringly. "Goodnight."

* * *

The next morning the power was back on, but neither Rosette nor Chrono dared to stay in the house. Both sat outside on the front porch, waiting for Aion's electrician to arrive. There was an easy silence between them, broken only by the growls of Rosette's stomach.

Rosette chuckled in embarrassment when Chrono raised his eyebrow at a particularly loud one.

"You should go into town and find some breakfast," Chrono suggested.

"Yeah, I know, but Aion's electrician is probably arriving any minute now." Rosette replied.

"You don't have to be here to take care of that." Chrono suggested. "I'll do it."

"How are you going to do that if they can't see you?" Rosette asked, rubbing her empty stomach.

Chrono shrugged. "This is one of Aion's personnel. If I leave the door unlocked for them, there's no doubt that they'll come in and do their job. I'm sure Aion gave them the authorization to do whatever they want and ignore what we tell them anyways."

Rosette had to agree. "You're right. And since they wont be able to see you, you can keep an eye on what they do."

"What?" Chrono exclaimed, "Why do I have to do that? They're probably going to go down into the cellar."

Rosette had the decency not to point out the whine that had crept into Chrono's voice when he mentioned the cellar. Chrono flushed a little bit but crossed his arms and refused all of Rosette's cajoling and threatening.

"I'll keep an eye on what's going on, but I wont follow the electrician down into the cellar." Chrono offered, and wouldn't be swayed to go any further. Rosette conceded, but made a show of being annoyed.

"Here's a perfect chance to figure out what's going on and you're passing it up." Rosette grumbled.

Chrono shrugged. "You wont go down there either, so we're even. But like I said, I'll take care of of the electrician, just go get something to eat in town."

Rosette sighed and got up from her spot on the porch, dusting herself off. "Fine, but you better have a full report to give me when I get back."

Chrono just waved at her.

Without any further prompting, Rosette got into her car and started the engine. As an after thought, she rolled down the window to yell something to Chrono.

"Do you want anything while I'm over there?" Rosette asked over the sound of the car's motor. Chrono shook his head with a smile, so Rosette shrugged and waved goodbye, quickly leaving the manor's entrance. Chrono's slender form became smaller and harder to see in her rear-view mirror, and once she left the gates, became impossible to see at all.

The country road was rough, and for lack of signs indicating the speed limit, Rosette was steadily accelerating when she saw Kate walking on the side of the road.

Curious, Rosette slowed down and lowered the passenger window.

"Where are you heading Kate?" Rosette yelled.

Kate had stopped and came over to the window. "I'm going to the church. Are you heading that way?"

"I'm going into town, I could leave you on the way there." Rosette suggested, unlocking the doors. "Get in."

Kate complied without any argument and sat down in the passenger seat. "Ewan tells me he saw you in town yesterday. Did you forget to buy something?"

Rosette flushed slightly when she remembered her meeting with Doctor Remington. She hoped the dear doctor hadn't told his girlfriend about Rosette's semi-flirting. "No, I was just getting some lunch. I didn't feel like staying in the house today."

Kate nodded in understanding. "Oh, if that's the case, I've brought enough food for two people with me. Ewan was supposed to come with me to church, but he had to cancel at the last minute. A patient with ulcers is now occupying his time."

Kate sighed in exasperation, and Rosette got the feeling that it wasn't the first time that Dr. Remington cancelled on her for a patient. But judging from the small smile on her face, she didn't seem to really mind.

"Alright, if you're sure Dr. Remington won't mind if I eat his food." Rosette smirked.

Kate was quick to reassure her. "Not at all. Besides, I'm going to the cemetery, and I hate going there alone."

Rosette wasn't one to be afraid of cemeteries, so she eagerly agreed to accompany Kate to the town's old church. The prospect of free food was especially welcoming.

Soon Rosette saw the church's distinctive spire and got to take a good look at the building for the first time since her arrival in the small town. For all the praise it got, it was a relatively small church made out of grey stone. The roof was probably new as it was still a bright silver colour. Rosette parked the car in front of the church, not sure if that was where she was supposed to park it since there didn't seem to be a designated parking lot. But Kate didn't say anything, so Rosette guessed that she wasn't doing anything wrong.

Soon both of them were out of the car and Kate handed Rosette a neatly wrapped sandwich. Rosette gratefully took it, and both ate in companionable silence, surveying the church and the adjacent cemetery.

"I'm sure you heard that most of the Black Family is buried here." Kate offered in between bites. Rosette nodded.

"Yes, Dr. Remington told me. Apparently they even have their own mausoleum?"

Kate nodded. "Yes, that's where Chrono Black is buried." Kate turned to Rosette in concern when she saw that the younger girl was choking on her sandwich.

"Are you okay dear?" Kate asked, reaching over to pat Rosette's back while the younger girl coughed. "You shouldn't take such large bites."

"I'm fine." Rosette gasped out, her face red and eyes watering, "What were you saying about that mausoleum?"

"Oh, right. Well, Aion Black had it built for his older brother soon after the poor boy was killed. Most people think he did it out of a guilty conscience. After all, why go through all the trouble of building such a thing in a small town cemetery? It's pretty extravagant, even by Black standards."

Rosette's colour was slowly becoming healthy again, and she nodded at what Kate was saying. "Do you think you could show it to me?"

Kate took another bite out of her sandwich. "Sure, it's near the back of the church. Just finish your food first, eating in a cemetery creeps me out."

Rosette nodded in understanding and quickly polished off the remaining pieces of her sandwich. She was ready to leave right after that, but Kate handed her a cookie and she begrudgingly took the time necessary to eat it.

"Do you have any idea how Aion's brother died?" Rosette asked around her cookie. Kate thought deeply for a moment.

"I know he was murdered, but other than that, not much. I can tell you that Chrono was the rightful heir to the Black fortune though. Aion was the bastard half-brother. Maybe Aion killed his brother to be able to inherit?" Kate suggested.

Rosette frowned and shook her head. "I don't think so, that doesn't sound quite right."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about your employer like that. Here, why don't we start walking?" Kate replied, as she stuffed the sandwich wrappings back into her bag.

Rosette locked her car and followed after Kate. The church was actually more impressive up close, and Rosette couldn't help but admire the massive stained glass windows. The doors were easily twice her size, and she could see the church's heavy bells swaying slightly in the breeze.

The cemetery, on the other hand, was a disappointment. It wasn't the least bit creepy.

Whereas Black Manor had been overgrown with weeds and dead-looking trees, this cemetery was carefully manicured and actually looked quite pleasant. A few graves sported colourful rings of bright flowers, and Rosette even spotted a family having a picnic at the other end of the cemetery.

"Ugh. The Petersons like to have family picnics here every few weeks. It makes me feel nauseous, so don't you dare stop to talk to them." Kate instructed, looking slightly green. "They'll want to hear all about what it's like working in the old Black Manor and we'll never have a chance to get away."

Rosette smirked at being the local celebrity, but obediently and followed behind Kate as she went towards the back to the church. She was leading Rosette to a rather nice plot of land overlooking quite a few trees. The mausoleum was easily visible. It was a neat little stone structure that was built to mirror the appearance of the church. Rosette had half-hoped that it would be as dilapidated as the Black Manor, but no, the plot of land on which the mausoleum stood was also neatly manicured and the grass was a deep shade of green. There weren't any flowers on the graves belonging to the Black Family, but that was no surprise. Rosette hardly expected Aion to be the sentimental sort.

"Here it is." Kate pointed to the mausoleum, "That's where Chrono Black is buried, I think Aion's wife Magdalene shares some space in there with him."

Kate walked over to check the discoloured bronze plaque and nodded to herself when she confirmed that piece of gossip. "Isn't it strange that he buried his wife with his half-brother? But I heard somewhere that Magdalene and Chrono were childhood friends, so maybe it's appropriate?"

"Yeah, and they were engaged at one point, but you're right, I think it's because they were childhood friends." Rosette added.

Kate looked over to her in surprise. "Really? Where did you hear that? I didn't know they were engaged!"

Rosette realised that she had made a mistake. She had thought that Chrono and Magdalene's engagement was common knowledge, but if Kate didn't know about it, apparently it wasn't. She mentally kicked herself. Of course people wouldn't remember a detail like that. But Kate's expression brightened.

"I know! Ewan's father must have told you that! The old fox, I knew he wasn't telling me everything he knew." Kate interjected, relieving Rosette of the burden of trying to find a suitable excuse.

"Uh, right." Rosette quickly agreed, relieved that she wouldn't have try and lie to Kate. Her lying skills needed some major work.

"Well that's kind of romantic then, made Magdalene still had feelings for Aion's brother after all those years." Kate gushed, eager to unearth some new, or rather very old, gossip. "I wonder if Aion's brother was madly in love with her?"

"No!" Rosette firmly replied, startled by her own vehemence. Kate looked pretty shocked too. "Uh… I mean, I think you're probably looking too much into this. I know that Mr. Black really loved his wife. Maybe the earlier engagement was one of convenience?" Rosette suggested meekly.

Kate raised an eyebrow at this but slowly nodded. "It's true that the Black fortune was revived by Aion after his brother's death. Maybe you're right."

Rosette breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Kate wasn't going to question her outburst. She continued to study the area in silence, rather impressed by the number of graves she saw in the Black area of the cemetery. She asked Kate questions here and there about the dynamics of the family, which Kate eagerly provided.

"Mr. Black Sr. was apparently someone who was only interested in travelling and because of Mrs. Black's delicate condition she was unable to accompany him. Rumour has it that soon after they were married Black Sr. found himself a mistress in Europe, and married her before Mrs. Black was cold in her grave. Aion is the mistress' son, but he doesn't seem to have particularly cared for her."

Kate pointed to a remote area where a small non-descript grave was located. "That's where she's buried. Strange that Aion went through all that trouble for his brother, isn't it? I wonder if he had a brother complex…"

Rosette curled her lip in disgust, but Kate was too far gone in her fangirl musings to notice the repulsed expression on Rosette's face. Rosette ignored the rest of Kate's rant and just shuddered.

"I can't believe she made me imagine that. I need to wash my brain now." Rosette grumbled to herself. "But I'm willing to bet my salary that Aion had an ulterior motive when he had that mausoleum built."

She studied it for a little while longer, but it looked rather plain. It was nothing really exciting, and she wondered how Chrono would react if she told him that Magdalene was buried with him.

"I wonder how many people they can fit in that thing?" Rosette mused, walking around the stone structure. "It doesn't look very big."

"Well it was built right at the beginning of the Great Depression, so I would imagine that materials were hard to come by." Kate rationalized, "I would guess it could probably fit four people altogether."

Rosette nodded. "That sounds about right."

Kate noticed that Rosette was glancing at her watch every so often and smiled. "Well thank you for driving me dear, but you don't need to stay here all day. I'm going inside now to help the priest set up for mass."

Rosette looked up at her, a little startled. "Sorry, I didn't realise I was holding you up."

"Not at all, I love talking about the Black Family, I think they were rather interesting people. But I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with your employer." Kate winked.

"Right. I probably should head back to the house, I'm expecting an electrician." Rosette admitted.

"Then get moving. I'll make Ewan drive me home."

Rosette and Kate exchanged goodbyes, and soon Rosette was back in her car, feeling as though she hadn't accomplished much. Sure, she had seen Chrono's grave, or rather his mausoleum, but there was nothing particularly exciting about it. Idly, she wondered what she had expected to find. The impeccable lawn had definitely been a surprise, but it wasn't what she had wanted to find.

"I guess I wanted to know how Chrono died. I probably should have asked Kate if she knows who might have murdered him." She paused for a moment and remembered that Azmaria had been afraid that Rosette would find evidence that Aion was the killer. But even though she didn't particularly like Aion, Rosette had a hard time imagining Aion to be the killer. First of all, Aion wouldn't do something as obvious and simple as shooting his brother. He would be sneakier about it. And then Chrono had told her that Aion really loved Magdalene. If that were true, then why would he place his beloved wife in the same final resting place as his murdered brother?

"Aion is an annoying old coot, but I doubt he murdered Chrono. There has to be more to it than that."

Rosette was so deep in her thoughts that she drove back to the Black Manor on autopilot and only woke up when she noticed that the electrician's car was still there.


	10. Supernatural Barrier Side Effects

AN: OMG. An update. I'm sorry for the crazy wait, I hope people haven't lost interest. Let me know what you think of the chapter, I love getting reviews!

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Shades of the Past 

Chapter 10 – Supernatural Barrier Side Effects

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Hesitation slowed Rosette's movements as she got out of her car. There was an electric blue Honda in front of Black Manor, parked even closer than anyone ever dared to park. Even more troubling were the perky happy-face stickers that lined the inside of the Honda's windows. She hovered next to the electrician's car, glancing at the sparkly yellow faces. Dread was gradually filling her as she glanced at the giddy-looking car and the house, which looked dark and dank even in broad daylight. The creepiness of one and the childishness of the other hit her like a ton of bricks. Was this person really working for Mr. Black? It seemed to defy everything she knew about Aion Black, who carried off the look of a sadist with ease. Yet here he was sending one of his employees, someone whose car inspired absolutely no confidence, to fix a potentially deadly problem. This in itself was proof that Aion had a twisted sense of humour, hidden deep bellow that stony surface. Doubting her safety, Rosette glanced at the house helplessly.

"Does Aion want me dead?" She muttered, pacing the dirt driveway in an effort to calm her nerves. She glanced up at the dark windows. "Where's Chrono?"

Black Manor never seemed quite so threatening when Chrono was around. Why wasn't he coming out to greet her? She stared at the door, willing it to open, but her glaring was useless, nothing happened. She grumbled and resumed her pacing, glancing at her watch from time to time.

The fact that Chrono was nowhere to be seen made a heavy weight settle in her stomach. Something had to be wrong. Otherwise the dark-haired boy would be outside welcoming her and cuing her in on what was going on. She knew it wouldn't be a good idea to test Chrono's patience and enter the manor alone. Chrono was trustworthy and his decisions were likely to be better thought out than her own, considering that she tended to rush headfirst into things. Besides, last night's events solidified the hypothesis that there was another supernatural being inside the Manor, potentially not as friendly as Chrono. After pacing for eleven minutes and fifty-nine seconds, Rosette tore off her watch and chucked it as far as she could into the overgrown lawn. She hated watches. She hated Aion and his 'cute' electrician; she hated this unknown threat that was hovering above her head, but most of all…

"I hate waiting!" Rosette cried out, throwing herself down onto the porch steps. She briefly thought of going back into town to kill some time, but she wanted to see the electrician before he left. She thought of nasty adjectives to call Chrono for making her wait as she tore out blades of grass from the earth next to her feet. She stomped angrily on the ants that were trying to make a get-away. The weight in her stomach was starting to turn into acid, burning her insides away with a mixture of anxiety, fear, and anger. The last of these feelings being the most familiar and comfortable, she settled on that one and tried to suppress the other two. She was never more certain that she loved Chrono, no one else would get away with making her wait over a quarter of an hour and live to tell about it. Figuratively speaking of course, she amended a little later, since Chrono was already dead. But even her loving patience had a time limit, and by the end of those 15 minutes she was starting to think different ways to make him suffer.

She got up, dusted herself off and resumed pacing, this time walking to the end of the drive and back. As she was kicking her car's tires for the umpteenth time, the sound of the manor's front door opening made her stop and glance upward. Against her will, Rosette's heart jumped, exultant at the thought of seeing Chrono's warm eyes and dark head of hair welcoming her home. It fell at the realisation that although the emerging head of hair was indeed dark, the slender form attached to it was decidedly female. Said female perked up as soon as she spotted Rosette and gave her a wide grin, waving at her enthusiastically. Rosette tried not to look too disappointed.

"Ohhh, you must be Ms Rosette Christopher, Mr. Black talks about you all the time." The woman in the white lab coat grinned cattily and stuck out her right hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Shader."

Rosette repressed an involuntary shudder. She didn't doubt that Aion Black talked about her all the time, but she doubted it was positive. Slowly, she reached out and shook Shader's hand. "You must be Mr. Black's electrician."

Shader winked, pushing up her glasses at the same time. "I'm more like his Jack-of-All-Trades, but he won't let me put that on the business card."

Rosette didn't know what to say to that. Luckily, Shader didn't seem to expect a response, she started studying Rosette from a few different angles. A sly smile was slowly appearing on her lips. "I think I can see why he's interested in you. You probably cause him a lot of problems, and those are the type of people he likes best."

For a brief moment, the glint in Shader's eyes and the meaningful way she said 'he' made Rosette think that maybe she was talking about Chrono. The statement could probably be applied to both brothers, come to think of it. However, Chrono's interest in her was somewhat masochistic, while his half-brother's was of a more sadistic nature. Rosette involuntarily smirked a little at that though and studied Shader's sunny, expectant face.

"The house itself causes most of the problems." Rosette replied, shrugging. "I have nothing to do with it."

"Of course, of course." Shader waved this off with a smile, the kind that people give when they know more than you. "It looks great. Trust me, I was here a few years ago and compared to then, it looks like a new house. Elder's electrical work is still a mess though."

"So I've been told." Rosette muttered, looking up at the house's vacant windows. "Were you able to fix whatever the problem was?"

Shader's bright smile faltered for a fraction of a second, almost unnoticeably. "Oh yes, you have nothing to worry about for now, I've patched over everything. It still isn't quite safe, but that's not really a problem _I'm_ able to fix. Of course it's a good idea to tell Mr Black right away if the power goes out again, but assuming the problem originated from the cellar, I have put into effect safety measures."

Rosette decided to play dumb. It was becoming obvious by the way that Shader was dancing around the issue that she knew more than Rosette did. Maybe she could milk the cat-girl for information, since her employer was so tight-lipped. "Safety measures? Was the electrical system dangerous? Is there a fire hazard?"

Shader hesitated again, her sunny smile becoming slightly forced. "Yeah, something like that. But there's nothing to worry about as long as you keep people away from the cellar. If someone other than Mr. Black's employees went down there, that would cause a problem."

Rosette frowned. It sounded to Rosette as though Shader was insinuating that if anyone went down in the cellar they would encounter something unpleasant. Going out on a limb, Rosette forced a laugh. "You make it sound as though the cellar is haunted!"

"Something like that. If some unsuspecting body went down there, they might not come back the same!" Shader rubbed the back of her head, chuckling.

Rosette glanced at the windows, her gut was processing the information faster than her brain: The house is haunted and anyone who goes near the basement is likely to be possessed or killed.

"I see," Rosette murmured absentmindedly, "And there's no chance you'll tell me what's really down there?"

Shader, who had started walking to her sunny blue car, stopped mid-stride and smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I can't do that Miss Christopher, you'll find out soon enough."

"Can't you tell me something? Anything?" Rosette asked trying to swallow down that note of desperation she was unused to hearing in her own voice. "Since I'll 'find out soon enough', what harm would come from giving me a heads up? I know there's probably something dangerous in that house, and that as soon as I step through those doors I'm probably putting myself at risk. Wouldn't it make sense to give me an idea of what that threat is? And don't tell me there's no threat, I know there's a major problem."

Rosette tried her best to sound as though she believed her bluff, since truthfully, she knew very little. All she was going on was her instincts and Chrono's vague impressions, but Shader's guilty expression and refusal to meet her eyes confirmed it. Rosette tried hard, but she couldn't completely school her face to hide her dawning horror.

Shader shook her head helplessly. "I'm really sorry Miss Christopher, I'm under strict orders. It's very important not to change the order of events, or to interfere in any way. If I were to do so, I would be putting more lives than just yours at risk, I'm sorry." There was a brutal note of finality in her voice that made Rosette suppress a shudder. "You'll have to play with the hand you've been dealt. All that my boss authorises me to say is that your trump card is locked away in the attic." At this, Shader gave Rosette a sheepish smile. "Thanks for picking up the package Mr. Black sent for me. I was supposed to be subtle and let you find the key from that package on the kitchen table, but I forgot to leave it there. So instead I'll give it to you now and give you a hint: _he_ knows what to do with what's inside the trunk, he just doesn't realise it yet."

Once again, Shader's inflection of the word 'he' convinced Rosette that she was referring to Chrono. She opened her mouth to start attacking Shader with questions, but the 'electrician' held up her hand in protest.

"Look, I'm really sorry Miss Christopher, that's the most I can say. I've already said more than I should, Mr. Black will skin me alive. I'm such an airhead! I can't believe I forgot to put the key on the table. But that's really all I can say. Any more and I'll end up in a body bag."

Rosette clamped her mouth shut, scowl firmly anchoring her features. She wanted actual answers, but felt sympathetic enough to understand Shader's situation. 'I wouldn't want to deal with a pissed off Aion Black,' she commiserated angrily. That didn't stop her from wanting to ask Shader what it was exactly that she 'fixed', but the shorthaired girl had already jumped into her blue Honda with cat-like grace.

"I'll be back if there's any problems." Shader stated cheerfully through her car's window, as though she had never mentioned anything about body bags. "Here, you'll be needing this."

Reaching out, Shader dropped the small, cool and heavy old-fashioned key into Rosette's waiting hand. It was about the length of Rosette's thumb and unadorned, deceptively simple.

"You're not going to tell me what it's for are you?" Rosette muttered sullenly.

"I already did, it unlocks something in the attic. Just be careful and watch your back, okay? Just because the problem has been confined to the cellar doesn't mean it isn't dangerous." She shifted gears, gave a small wink and a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, everything should work out. Time is a rather linear thing."

With that cryptic remark, she saluted and drove off. Rosette watched the car turn right at the gates and disappear towards town. She frowned a bit, because she knew that going through the town only lengthened the drive to the highway, but it was too late to point that out to Shader. Surely the electrician knew her way around, maybe she was going through town to buy some food for the trip to wherever she was heading.

Shaking her head, she decided to ignore it and head inside. Too many questions were bubbling up inside of her, suffocating her until she had trouble breathing. Rosette recognized the symptoms as panic, something she hadn't really felt since her parents died. Until now it had been so easy to get answers and solve her problems. She just tore forward and never looked back. But in this place, she was stuck. She couldn't run away or push forward. She had to wait until the puzzle pieces slowly revealed themselves to her, and Rosette knew that Shader had probably told her more than Aion intended. If she thought too much about it, the unanswered questions would drive her mad. So she had to focus on deciphering what little information she had. More than ever she wished Chrono was there by her side. He would have been able to remember everything that Shader said and figure things out more easily than she could.

But thanks to Shader, now she was fairly certain that Aion knew about Chrono's existence. She balled her fists. He was playing her like a puppet. She closed her eyes and tried to remember all the instances where Aion's behaviour had been suspicious. He had drilled her for a description of her saviour when she had fallen in the water, as though he personally knew the person who saved her. Last night he seemed to know that what had opened the back door came from the river. If Chrono was right, maybe whatever came from the river was the thing that had killed him over eighty years ago. That thought caused a shudder to run down Rosette's spine. She wanted to go back inside the house even less now.

With a sigh, she took another glance at the heavy metal key and slipped it into her pocket. The day was almost over, she had wasted more time than she had intended at the cemetery. The windows of the Manor no longer looked as though they were watching her, but rather looked strangely empty.

Chrono wasn't going to come.

Worry was now eating away at her insides. Something had to be very wrong. Chrono had rarely left her side since she had arrived here, and hadn't he said earlier that he would keep an eye on the electrician?

"But Chrono is a memory, nothing should be able to hurt him." The words sounded hollow even to her own ears. If whatever was in the house knew Chrono when he was alive, it would be able to touch him.

Something felt heavy on her chest as she ran towards the house. Her lungs constricted, she could hardly breathe as she opened the manor's massive wooden door and called Chrono's name. She hated how weak and worried her own voice sounded, but that didn't stop her from calling out again when Chrono didn't answer her the first time.

"I never should have left him alone here," Rosette said to herself, willing her heart to slow down. She took a few deep breaths. It wouldn't do her any good to panic. She searched the sitting room and kept calling out his name but she was met with a frightening silence.

She headed back into the main entrance, but the portraits of the Black patriarchs seemed to be sneering down at her. She hated that painting of Aion halfway up the stairs. Those eyes definitely looked as though they knew more than her. She shot the painting hateful look, but the intensity in those angry-looking eyes didn't die down. She called Chrono's name up the stairs, not particularly looking forward to looking through every room in the manor for him. She held on to the railing, wondering where she should start. The cellar was the first thing that popped into her mind, but she knew that Chrono wouldn't dare go down there. She hurried towards the kitchen, thinking that maybe she would just look down the stairs, just to make sure.

She never ended up needing to look into the cellar because she found Chrono lying motionless on the kitchen floor.

Rosette rushed over and slid down next to him. "Chrono, what happened?" She reached out to shake him a little to wake him up, but recoiled when her hand went through his shoulder. Horrified, Rosette looked at her hand in disbelief. Where she had touched it, Chrono's shoulder looked the way water did when it was disturbed.

Chrono shivered slightly, probably from her touch. "Rosette?"

"I'm right here." Rosette responded, rather frightened. "What's going on?"

A moan of pain was her answer as Chrono tried to pick himself up. Rosette moved to help him, but remembered what had happened when she touched him and hesitated. Instead, she moved back to give him some space.

"This has never happened before." Chrono admitted, reaching out for Rosette. Without really thinking, Rosette gave him her shoulder to lean on, and was surprised when he didn't go through her. But he felt as cold as ice, and was too light. He also felt insubstantial, and that was more than enough to increase Rosette's concern.

"You're as cold as ice," Rosette murmured, slowly helping him up from the floor. She draped his arm fully over her shoulder and held on to his waist, making him lean most of his weight onto her.

"I feel as though I was hit by something." Chrono groaned.

"What happened?" Rosette's mind was racing, desperately trying to decide what to do. She helped him get to his feet and warily glanced at the cellar door. Whatever Shader had done to confine whatever was in the cellar was affecting Chrono as well. She shifted so that she held him more securely and guided him towards the main hall. Chrono listlessly let her guide him. She steered Chrono towards the staircase and helped him as they made their way up the stairs. He was still leaning heavily on her, but as they got further away from the kitchen, Chrono seemed to recover some colour and become more substantial.

"I don't…" Chrono trailed off, "I don't really know."

They walked up a few steps before Chrono nearly collapsed. Rosette stopped walking, alarmed. "Chrono?"

Chrono gave her a watery smile, "I'm fine. I just need to sleep."

Rosette somehow doubted that, but kept walking slowly, taking one stair at a time. She was grateful that Chrono wasn't some six-foot tall guy because he was relatively easy to manoeuvre up the numerous stairs of the manor. It didn't take long for her to half-drag, half-carry him up the stairs. She stopped at the top of the stairs for a minute and leaned against the wall, debating what to do. Chrono's room was at the end of the hall, but it didn't seem reasonable to bring him there. He had slept in Rosette's room the night before, what was another night? She opened the door to her room and led him to her bed.

"I can take the sleeping bag," Chrono protested, but Rosette shook her head.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't possibly think I'd let you sleep in a sleeping bag after finding you spending some quality time with the kitchen floor. Get in the bed."

Chrono was too weak to argue. He slowly took off his shoes as Rosette turned to lock the door and pushed the dresser in front of it again for good measure. He had crawled beneath the covers and was watching her barricade the door. She absently noticed that he was still wearing Joshua's clothing. 'Good,' she thought, 'that way he wont be uncomfortable while he's sleeping.'

"I don't think we need to worry about our unknown visitor anymore. If what Aion's electrician did affected me like this, they're definitely out of commission." Chrono murmured, almost sounding amused.

"How can you be so calm about this? I just found you on the kitchen floor! Memories aren't supposed to get knocked out, right?" She shot back, visibly upset.

Chrono shrugged weakly. "I don't know. I've never been knocked out before. But seeing as it just happened, I won't say it's impossible. Don't worry too much about it Rosette, I'm fine. I'm just really tired."

She could see that was true, he looked as though he could barely keep his eyes open. She wanted to keep questioning him, but it would be cruel to force him to stay awake. She let out a helpless, very un-Rosette like whimper before throwing her hands up in defeat and going to close the curtains. Making sure that Chrono's eyes were closed, Rosette got changed and crawled into her side of the bed. She glanced one last time at his still form before looking at the time on her cell phone. It was only five in the afternoon, but there was no way she was going back downstairs without Chrono. Lying down, she looked at the ceiling for a bit before rolling over. She saw that Chrono was now facing her from across the bed.

"Are you sure you're Ok?" Rosette asked quietly. He was looking at her through heavy lids.

He managed to smile reassuringly. "I'm fine. Go to sleep."

Rosette smiled at the familiar order and looked at Chrono as his eyes slowly closed. It didn't take long for his breathing to even out. Rosette, on the other had, was having a bit more trouble falling asleep. She ran over the pieces of the puzzle almost fanatically, trying to figure out what was going on. Chrono said that he had been shot near the oak tree. Whoever shot him was probably what was now taking up residence in the cellar, because she truly didn't believe that Aion Black killed his older half-brother like Kate suggested, he was too intelligent for something as crude as a shooting. But try as she might, Rosette couldn't figure out what was going on. She just didn't know enough to solve the mystery, and it frustrated her exceedingly.

A fierce protectiveness surged through her as she reached out to brush a few strands of dark hair away from Chrono's face. It was amazing that she had only been at the manor for a short while, but already she knew that she couldn't live without him. Seeing him sprawled out on the kitchen floor had confirmed that. He had easily filled in that void that she had pretended never existed. What would happen if he disappeared? She would have no reason to stay here. The only reason she enjoyed this job was because he was constantly by her side, always trying to help her, subtly trying to touch her and provide comfort.

"This won't ever happen again," she promised his still form. "I'll find out what happened to you."

She knew she wasn't only talking about whatever had knocked him out that afternoon. She intended to find out how he died and get to the bottom of the Black family's web of secrets. She just hoped she could do that without leaving behind her skin. But somehow, for Chrono, she knew it was worth it. And if she got killed figuring everything out, maybe she could stay behind with him? She pushed the thought aside. She had no intention of leaving her life behind in this hellhole of a house. Besides, Chrono was a memory, not a ghost, and as far as she knew, she had no demonic ancestry to be able to defy death.

With a sigh, she moved closer to him and took his hand in hers, just to reassure herself that he was still there. She swallowed her pride and curled up closer to his now warm body. He was sleeping too deeply to notice her actions, so she was safe in the knowledge that no one witnessed her shed a few humiliating tears at the helplessness of her situation. She managed to relax by listening to his regular and even heartbeat, but sleep didn't find her for several more hours.


	11. Key to the Past

Disclaimer: If I owned Chrno Crusade my name would be Moriyama Daisuke, and last time I checked it wasn't. I'll keep checking though, if it changes I'll let you know.

AN: Sorry guys! I promised people who PM-ed me an update before the new year, but I didn't make it. ;; I also apologise for my crappy updating record, uni saps up all my time and energy, and I'm a natural procrastinator, so that only makes things worse! But we're getting closer to the end, soon everything should fall into place. Thank you for your patience and for not giving up on this story! I really appreciate your reviews and look forward to reading what you think about this chapter!

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**Shades of the Past**

**Chapter 11 – Key to the Past**

* * *

Rosette woke up when light shinning in through the curtains made it impossible to pretend it was still night. She was still firmly lodged under Chrono's chin, against his chest. It was incredibly warm and comfortable, so she closed her eyes again and just listened to his even breathing. After what happened yesterday afternoon, it was beyond comforting to know he was still warm and substantial. With the light filtering in through the curtains, if she ignored the barricade in front of the door, everything was perfect.

Since invading Chrono's sleeping space last night, his only movement had been to drape an arm around her waist. He was still unconscious, but it was a peaceful kind of sleep that made her reconsider the thought of waking him up to see if he would be embarrassed by their position. 'Probably,' she smirked to herself. Almost unconsciously she reached up and touched his cheek, relieved to find it was warm. He would probably be incredibly embarrassed if he woke up to find her curled up against him like a lover. Hell, she would have been embarrassed as well if she weren't so relieved to see he was okay. They had slept in the same room last night, but Chrono had waited until she was asleep before laying down on the floor to sleep in her sleeping bag. Would he let her cling on to him like this if her were awake? That was a silly question, Rosette decided, because there was no way she would be clingy like this if there were anyone to witness it.

She watched him sleep a bit longer before reluctantly extracting herself from under his arm. She wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with him, but she was still determined to find out what was going on, and the key that Shader had given her weighed heavily on her mind.

Her side of the bed was cold, so she didn't waste any more time and quickly climbed out from under the sheets. She got changed and moved the furniture from the door as quietly as she could, occasionally glancing at Chrono to make sure she wasn't disturbing him. Despite the loud scraping of the heavy wood furniture, his breathing was still deep and even. Satisfied, she glanced out the bedroom door, glancing down the hall to make sure she was alone. The sunlight made the hall look less threatening, and if proof that the supernatural exists were not sleeping in her bed, Rosette would have been annoyed at herself for being so edgy. She quietly made her way down the stairs, wincing as the bottom ones creaked loudly.

In the kitchen, nothing had been disturbed since yesterday, which made everything seem that much more surreal. It was hard for Rosette to accept that the solid and warm body in her bed was the same body that lay cold and translucent on the floor yesterday. Hesitantly, she picked up a fallen chair and pushed it against the table. Chrono had obviously held on to it to keep his balance before falling. Trying to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach, she put some bread in the toaster and leaned against the counter while waiting for the toaster's ding. Glancing occasionally at the cellar door, she wondered, not for the first time, what sick game they were playing. Her fingers squeezed tightly around the key in the pocket.

'It doesn't matter what they throw at me. I'm going to win, and anyone who dares hurt Chrono again will wish they had never been born.' Rosette glared one last time at the cellar door and quickly spread marmalade on the warm bread. She ate standing, glancing out the window at the oak by the river. Since she had fallen in the river, the looming presence she used to imagine feeling on the manor grounds seemed to have moved to the cellar. It made her wonder if falling into the river had woken it up. Maybe Chrono wasn't the only person to die by the river.

The hum of the refrigerator was far from being suitable company; its constant drone just annoyed her. She felt more alone than ever, frustrated by Shader's lack of answers. What could possibly be hiding in the cellar? In the attic? Throwing the marmalade back onto the fridge's shelf, she paced the kitchen a bit, steeling herself. She had yet to look at the attic, and frankly, she didn't want to. She had inhaled enough dust while working on the first two floors, and while spiders and vermin no longer scared her, she hated small spaces. But she needed to get some answers, and if they were in the attic, so be it. With that, Rosette headed up the stairs, before she lost her motivation. She stopped in front of Chrono's portrait, again struck by the lack of resemblance. The boy in her bed looked nothing like the painting's sombre subject, with his humourless expression and distant gaze. The Chrono she knew looked like a kinder version of Aion, really. She chuckled a little at this thought. Aion, kind? That was the oxymoron of the century. Shaking her head and stifling her chuckles, Rosette continued up the massive staircase and hesitantly opened the door to her room to make sure she hadn't woken Chrono. He was still asleep on the bed, but curled tightly around himself to preserve warmth. She watched him for a few moments and sighed, wishing that things were easier. It was just her luck that some unknown demonic force had to enter the picture right when she had accepted to be with Chrono no matter what. She wasn't going to back down though. If anything, this threat made Rosette more eager to move forward. Someone or something had hurt Chrono, so now it was personal. She gently closed the door and walked carefully down the creaky hallway.

Normally she stayed on the first floor of the manor and limited herself to two or three rooms on the second floor, her own included in that tally. She knew where the attic was though. At the end of the hallway, she turned left down the hall and opened the door to what seemed like a small closet. Inside that closet there was a steep set of stairs that lead to the third floor. She shuddered slightly at all the cobwebs, pushing them out of the way with her hand. They no longer bothered her, but the feeling of invisible fingers gliding across her skin unnerved her now more than ever. The attic stairs weren't very solid, so she tested her weight on each step before continuing, having learned earlier on in this renovation project to be careful for rotting stairs. Sure enough, one step looked like it would collapse under her weight, so she avoided it. Willing herself forward, she opened the door to the attic and carefully poked her head in.

Thankfully, the third floor attic was nothing like she had imagined. If it had been a small, cramped space she would have said 'screw it' and waited for Chrono to wake up. But it wasn't. Instead, the third floor was cavernous, easily spanning half the second floor but without the room divisions. And it looked as though no kids on dares had been stupid enough to come up here, because everything was intact. There were white sheets covering old pieces of furniture, as well as a mannequin that was probably once used to make dresses. If Rosette had been less brave, the mannequin would have creeped her out, but by now she was more than used to things being covered by sheets. She didn't expect anything to jump out from under them to attack her anymore. But that didn't stop her from looking under the sheet to make sure it really was a mannequin. Just in case.

The windows in the room were all intact, but incredibly dirty, light filtered in with some difficulty. All the boxes and furniture piled up in corners created shadows on the floor, but Rosette ignored them in favour of finding a box that could be opened with Shader's key. With no small amount of despair she realised that there were over twenty trunks that could be opened by a key, some large enough to contain a body. Suppressing a shudder, she tried the key on the nearest body-sized trunk and saw, with some relief, that it didn't fit, the key's teeth were biting into air. She tried a few more trunks nearby, none of them fit. She kept going around the room trying more trunks, but with no luck.

She was beginning to think Shader had set up some elaborate hoax when she noticed a small trunk in a corner that she had missed. It looked around the right size for the key. Sitting down in the dust next to it, Rosette fit the key in the trunk's keyhole, a little surprised when it fit. With an audible click, the mechanism released the cover, and she gingerly opened it to see what was inside.

Thankfully, there were no spare body parts. If anything, the contents of the trunk were incredibly mundane. There was an old pocket watch, a photo album, a few newspaper clippings, and most mysterious of all, a skirt, a blouse, what looked like old-fashioned undergarments, socks and shoes, all in excellent condition. Rosette curiously emptied out the contents onto the floor, gently going through the newspaper clippings. It was hard to see in the dim light, but most of them seemed to be about the Black Family Murder.

"These are about Chrono's death," Rosette gasped, amazed. She had thought she would have to fight for information, but here Aion was simply handing it over to her. Eagerly, she read the first article. The headline 'Black Family Murder Unsolved' grabbed her attention. Apparently controversy had surrounded Chrono's death. To all appearances, he had died of a gunshot wound, but rumour had it that the doctor had been paid off to not perform an autopsy. She turned to the next one. Aion's mother, Pandemonium, had been killed that same day. Drowned. Aion Black was a possible suspect. The next article stated that Aion had been cleared; an unnamed witness had confirmed that there was a second, more likely murder suspect that had mysteriously escaped. Yet another article speculated about the fate of the Black family, now that Aion was leaving for San Francisco and letting go of all the servants, some of which had served the family for generations...

She glanced over these articles in amazement, not believing her good fortune, when the attic door slammed shut. Rosette jumped a foot into the air, accidentally dropping the article she was reading. She lunged and caught it as it floated away, her heart racing.

"It's just air pressure, there must be an opened window somewhere, it's just air pressure," Rosette chanted to reassure herself. She smoothed out the article clipping she had nearly crumpled and carefully placed everything on the floor. With no small amount of dread, she walked over to the door and turned the handle.

It wouldn't budge.

Her stomach dropped. She rattled the doorknob and pulled harder on the door handle, struggling with the unmoving door.

"Hell no, you can't be locked!" She cried out, ready to pound on the door. She stopped herself mid-movement. Chrono was still sleeping. It was probably just a draft that closed the door, nothing to panic about, these things happened all the time. She was a little annoyed at how scared she felt, and decided to tough it out. Chrono would wake up eventually and wonder where she was. There was no movement in the room, no evil presence, so she half-heartedly reasoned that she was safe, she was just over-reacting. Whatever dangerous presence once lurked around the house was now confined to the cellar. She tried very hard to believe that.

Rosette felt the wall to make sure it wasn't rotting. The wooden planks that formed the walls were dry and somewhat solid, but she didn't trust them to handle her weight. She brought the trunk and its contents closer to the door and leaned against it. Once she was confident that the door and its frame could handle being leaned on, she slowly slid down to sit on the floor. 'It figures that the only thing not rotting in this room is the door,' she thought bitterly. Her movements caused some dust to rise up and she wrinkled her nose at the mustiness of the room. Maybe she should eventually clean this space too?

"I still have the second floor to worry about," Rosette muttered to herself, "there's no way I'm cleaning the attic. The last thing I'm interested in doing is finding more rodent carcasses."

With that thought, she looked around her again, just to make sure that there area was clean and guano free. Satisfied, she glanced at the attic door she was leaning against, a little annoyed with herself for not having the forethought to prop it open with a shoe or something. But there was no use crying over spilt milk, so she dragged the trunk closer and decided to keep looking through it. It was too dark in her corner to read the articles, so she pulled out the photo album and began to leisurely browse through it.

There weren't many pictures in the album, probably because pictures were expensive back then. One of the biggest ones was a wedding picture, where the two subjects of the photograph looked deadly serious. Rosette raised an eyebrow. She flipped through the album quickly, glancing at the other portraits. All the people in the pictures looked deadly serious, no one was smiling. Not one person was sticking their tongue out or posing with a bottle of beer as Rosette was in the habit of doing with her brother's friends.

"Well, if pictures are expensive and you don't have a digital camera you're unlikely to take crazy drunken pictures," she reasoned with a smile. She flipped back to the beginning to study them more carefully. There were pictures of Chrono growing up, along with Aion and Magdalene. Jealousy gnawed at her stomach when she saw how beautiful Magdalene was, even as a child. She tried to suppress that unpleasant emotion and continued to look at the pictures. The happiest ones seemed to be those with an older black-haired woman. Rosette guessed she was Chrono's mother. She glanced under the photos and saw the name Lilith occasionally written in a graceful scrawl. Even as a child, Chrono sat next to her in a dignified way. To Rosette's surprise, young Aion seemed to love her very much as well, barely holding back a smile and hanging off of her in a few pictures. Then suddenly Chrono's mother was nowhere to be found in the pictures, a blond-haired woman replaced her.

"This must be Pandemonium," Rosette murmured, surprised. The woman was clearly beautiful, but there was a stark contrast if one compared her to Lilith Black. Whereas Lilith Black had dark hair and seemed to radiate a sweet serenity, Pandemonium was platinum blond and had the look of a bitchy supermodel. Since the pictures were rather sepia in tone, it was impossible to make out her eye colour, but Rosette guessed it was probably the same icy blue as her son's. In the following photographs, she could almost see Aion's bitterness growing, as though the 'family' photographs with Pandemonium were a joke. Chrono, on the other hand, didn't look very different. Like in the portrait by the stairs, Chrono posed impassively in the pictures, looking every bit like the model son he probably was. Once again, she was stuck by how hard it was to reconcile this unsmiling, rather bland looking figure with the boy in her bed. Real Chrono looked serious and, well, old despite being seventeen. Memory Chrono, the boy in her bed, although rather quiet, looked much more lively. Plus he was prone to gracing her with the most beautiful smiles, and he didn't look nearly so strict in Joshua's sweats. Maybe something had happened to change him a little? She would like to think it was her presence that changed him, but it was probably something else. Maybe Pandemonium was just a killjoy? From Aion's expression of pure revulsion, it certainly looked like it. She wondered what the back-story between them all was.

Closing the album, Rosette leaned her head against the leather cover and sighed. It was as though everything had been put aside a seventy years earlier just for her. She did a brief tally of the information Azmaria had given her. Chrono could control time and Aion could see into people's souls. Maybe someone who could see into the future had put this stuff aside because they had known she would want it? The pictures were old, but everything in the trunk was in pristine condition. The dark and dry space it was placed in was perfect for preserving everything. Who could possibly guess that the attic would be dry in seventy or eighty years?

Rosette was about to pick up the watch to look at it when she heard footsteps on the stairs leading to the attic. Moments later, the door swung open behind her, causing her to fall backwards. Chrono rushed forward to support her back and stop her from falling down the steps.

"What are you doing up here?" Chrono asked, looking startled but relieved to see her at the same time. He looked winded, as though he had searched through the whole house to find her. Come to think of it, he probably did. The attic would likely be one of the last places he would think to look.

Rosette regained her balance and started to get up. Chrono hurried forward and gave her a hand as leverage to stand, then stood back at a respectful distance as she brushed the dust off her clothing. "I didn't mean to worry you, I was just looking for this junk. Aion had Shader leave me a key to this trunk, which of all places had to be in the attic. This is starting to look like a bad detective novel."

Chrono raised an eyebrow as she piled everything back into the trunk. "This door is defective, it only opens from the outside," he finally stated, glancing over her to make sure she was all right. "It was like that even seventy years ago."

Rosette sighed. "I noticed." She bent down and picked up the trunk, balancing it on her hip. "You're feeling better."

It was phrased like a statement, but Chrono could immediately see that she wanted some reassurance that he really was ok.

"I am. I don't know what happened, but I remember that the electrician entered the house and I followed her as far as the cellar door. Soon after, there was a bright flash," Chrono explained. "Let me carry that trunk for you." She handed it to him without argument, having learned a while back that it was easier just to concede to his chivalrous habits.

"And then?" She asked as they both walked carefully down the attic stairs. He held her hand to help her avoid a step that looked as though it would give away under her weight, and didn't immediately let it go when they had passed the obstacle.

"And then nothing," he admitted sheepishly. They both paused once they reached the foot of the steep attic stairs. Chrono closed the closet door that concealed the stairs and shifted the trunk to rest it on his hip. "You probably shouldn't go back up there until we fix those stairs."

"What do you mean nothing? Memories aren't supposed to get sick, right?" She stated, a little accusingly. She didn't mean to get upset, but it was just that she didn't understand why Chrono was so calm about suddenly loosing consciousness. Finding him motionless on the kitchen floor was the scariest thing that had happened to her in that house, and it had rattled her more than she would ever admit.

"No, they don't get sick, but I'm guessing they're still affected by demonic power. Aion's electrician must have set up a barrier to contain demonic energy, and I was just too close, that's all."

Rosette shook her head, but hurried down the hall, wanting to get away from the attic. Mentally, she knew there was nothing to worry about since the demonic threat was confined to the cellar, but she was still a little shaky from her forced confinement. That slamming door hadn't made the attic any less creepy.

"So I'm guessing that whatever Shader did, it worked," Rosette grumbled, "Maybe it works a little too well."

"I'm sure Shader knows what she's doing, but it probably only work for a certain amount of time. Pure demonic energy is hard to contain, and this house's demonic energy continually feeds me, so it must be the same thing for whatever is in the cellar."

"You're not being very reassuring!" Rosette accused him. Chrono just shrugged. Shaking her head, she pointed towards the sitting room. "Do you want to look at the stuff there?"

"The kitchen has the best light," he murmured. They both glanced towards the kitchen and wordlessly agreed not to go there. They entered the sitting room where they had spent an evening by the fireplace and sat on one of the chairs, spreading the articles on their laps.

He carefully avoided the newspaper articles. Rosette probably would have done the same thing; it had to be uncanny to read about your own death. Since it had been such a big story for the small town, some of the clippings even featured faded pictures of Chrono. Handing stay articles to Rosette, Chrono picked up the photo album and quietly started flipping through it. Rosette had no compunction about reading the articles though. The sensationalist titles, "Respected Family Falls Apart" and "Black Family Murder" didn't put her off in the least. She was a little annoyed by how repetitive they were though. She wasn't able to glean any more information. The articles only put forward a few concrete facts; the rest was speculation.

Known fact number 1: Chrono was shot near the river. Known fact number 2: Pandemonium Black drowned in that river. Known fact number 3: Aion was present at both murders but was acquitted of any wrongdoings. The murder suspect was never found. The final fact that these murders had never been resolved bothered Rosette the most. How could such a huge story have been swept under the rug for so long? How could this town accept that there was no answer to this murder? That the murderer was never brought to justice? And how on earth did Aion manage to escape conviction? That was the greatest mystery of all. Even if he hadn't been guilty, identifying him as the murderer would have provided some closure.

She put down the articles and glanced up at Chrono. He was still looking at the album, but he was frowning as looked at the pictures, clearly troubled. "What's wrong?"

"I can't remember most of these," Chrono admitted, looking a little worried.

Rosette shrugged and leaned against his shoulder to look at the pictures. "That's normal, you forget things over time."

"Yes, but what I remember about these pictures isn't exactly normal. I can remember vaguely how I felt about them, but I mostly remember Aion's impressions. And I only remember the pictures that have Aion in them; the ones where it's only me are a blank. It's as though I'm remembering Aion's memories."

"That's ridiculous," Rosette slapped his shoulder lightly. "How can you remember things from Aion's point of view?"

Chrono didn't say anything. Rather than agreeing with her, his frown grew more pronounced as flipped through the pages. Finally, Rosette grew tired of seeing him look so troubled, so she tried to distract him by handing him the pocket watch.

"Any idea what this is about? Shader said you would know what to do with this stuff."

Chrono took the watch gingerly, opening it up. He looked relieved when he recognized the familiar object. "This is my old pocket watch. The oils are dried up, you're supposed to crank it once a day to keep it going. It has a substantial amount of my power left over in it, demonic energy tends to leave a residue. But I don't know why Aion thinks this might be useful."

"Well, if you were Aion and you wanted to use it, it wouldn't be for something as mundane as telling time, right? You said the oils are dried up. Aion must have something else in mind. Think twisted and evil, like Aion. What would it be for?" Rosette insisted, a little annoyed at how little she knew about Chrono's powers.

He quietly placed it back in the trunk, on top of the album. "Well, I suppose it has enough of my powers to serve as a grounder." She gave him an expectant look, not understanding but urging him to continue. Chrono sighed. "I experimented a bit with it as a child and found that the easiest way to send someone through time is to use an object that exists in both times. When you send things to the past. But material objects that didn't exist back then won't travel." He reluctantly explained.

"Like clothes." Rosette added. He nodded, a little surprised.

"Yes, how did you guess?"

Rosette pulled out the skirt, blouse, socks and underwear from the trunk. "They're in my size."

Chrono looked at the blouse. At first, there was blank incomprehension. Then slowly everything settled in and he looked at her with barely disguised horror. "No… You can't be serious!"

"I've got the feeling Aion wants you to send me back in time," she continued, pleased at having finally figured it out. Now all of Shader's cryptic hints about 'time is linear' and stuff made a lot more sense. "Can you do that?"

Chrono was still in shock and his mouth opened and closed a few times, as though he just couldn't believe she was asking him such a question. Rosette just looked at him expectantly.

"Even the shoes look as though they would fit." Rosette took said pair of shoes out of the trunk. Curious, she pulled off her sneakers and pulled on the old leather lace-up ankle boots. They were so old that she was certain the leather would be hard and stiff, but she was pleasantly surprised that they were soft and used. They fit perfectly. As she was lacing them up, she glanced at Chrono. "Well?"

Chrono was frowning when he saw that the shoes fit. He reached out for the blouse, his frown deepening when he realised that it would be quite fashionable in 1930. "Well?" Rosette insisted, waving the other shoe in front of him. By now he was glaring sullenly at the pocket watch. "I'm guessing you can. That's what Azmaria meant when she said your powers were the strongest, right? You can send someone through time. Can you send them both to the past and the future?"

He pushed the shoe down, and reached for the skirt, which was still in the trunk. "I think I remember seeing this clothing before," he murmured, a little mystified. "Where could I have seen it?"

"Don't avoid the question," Rosette snapped, her patience thinning quickly. Chrono was supposed to be helping her, but instead he was keeping her in the dark when they were so close to getting some answers. Didn't he want to know who killed him? "Can you send someone to the past or can't you?"

He sighed, toying with the blouse's buttons. Rosette was right; everything in the trunk had probably been placed there for her, it was all in her size.

"I don't know. The most I've ever dared to do was to send myself a few years into the past." He hesitated, as though revealing a childish misdeed. "I once sent Magdalene a few hours back in time to play a prank on Aion, so sending someone other than myself back in time shouldn't be a problem. It's just that to send you back to when I was alive would be sending you back over seventy years. There a much greater margin for me to make a mistake than if it was only a few hours. What if I accidentally sent you a few days after my death and you're stuck there?"

"So you can do it!" she cried out, exultantly. "That means we can stop you from getting murdered! That must be what Aion has in mind!"

Chrono just shook his head. "It's dangerous. And you can't change time. "

"Aion must want me to go back in time and change everything! Why else would he give me all this stuff? " Rosette asked expectantly. Chrono kept shaking his head.

"That's not the way it works. Time is linear, if something was meant to happen, you can't stop it from happening." Chrono explained sounding a little defeated. He sighed and decided to give an example. "Once I went back in time to stop Magdalene's cat from falling out of a tree, but no matter how tightly I held it in my arms, it still managed to break free and broke its legs because of the fall. It's always the same. If you try and prevent something from happening by going back in time, then you become a part of the cause. I don't know what Aion is planning, but you can't stop me from dying Rosette. Besides," Chrono gave a small smile, "if I don't die, then we would never get to know each other like this."

That was true, but Rosette didn't want to think about it. With a sigh, she unlaced the shoe, pulled it off and placed it back in the trunk along with all the rest of the clothing. Rather than putting her off, everything Chrono was saying just made her more certain that this was what she had to do. Although she was glad to have met Chrono, going back in time had to be the key to solving the mystery of his existence.

"I'm sure you have to send me back in time. Didn't you once tell me you knew my name before having met me?" she demanded, suddenly remembering their first official meeting. "You said you had known my name for years!"

Chrono looked a little taken aback. "That's true," he murmured, a little bewildered, as though he had forgotten about that. "But that doesn't mean I met you when I was alive, it could be something else. My mother could see into the future, maybe she mentioned you once."

"You're working against me here!" Rosette growled out, "We've established that only people who knew you when you were alive can see you, so how can I see you? It has to be because you met me when you were alive. And besides, look at these news articles, it says your stepmother was killed at the same time as you, and the prime murder suspect got away. Maybe I'm supposed to go to the past and try and save you, and maybe I really do become 'a part of the cause' as you put it. For all you know maybe it's my fault you died! Maybe the 'prime suspect' is me! You can't just write this off because time is set in stone, it obviously isn't. Sending me back is what makes the most sense right now. We have to try."

Chrono was quiet as he looked through the articles. She was looking at him impatiently, tapping her finger against the arm of the chair. Finally, he looked up.

"I'm sorry, you're right, it's what makes the most sense at this point, but could we wait? I don't think it would be wise to send you back in time over seventy-five years tomorrow morning." He sighed, looking rather worried. "I need time."

"Thank you for agreeing with me." Rosette smirked, kissing him lightly on the cheek to cheer him up. "I'm not suggesting that we do that right away, it's probably a good idea to get more dirt on Aion and your murder before rushing head-first into Aion's master plan. Besides, we have more cleaning to do. Why don't we try and clean some graffiti outside?"

He reluctantly nodded and placed the blouse he had been holding back into the trunk with all the other articles. Rosette closed the lid and slipped the key into her pocket.

They both got up, and Chrono was about to silently walk away when Rosette pulled him back towards her. Without any warning, and surprising both of them a bit, Rosette pulled him into a kiss. He responded almost immediately, but it was obvious he was still upset. When their lips parted, she hugged him tightly. "Nothing will change you know." She murmured against his collarbone.

Chrono was still a little surprised by the kiss, but soon he returned the hug, leaning his cheek on her hair. "How can you be sure of that?" he asked, "How can you be sure you'll survive whatever Aion has planned? You'd be alone there, I wouldn't be able to help you."

Rosette pulled back and winked. "Because I'm not some damsel in distress, I'm Rosette Christopher. I'll take on whatever gets thrown at me. And I'm not too worried, even if it's not as 'Memory Chrono', you'll still be with me. We'll have to trust that 'real' Chrono will worry about my well-being as much as you do."

He didn't say anything at that. He wanted to believe her, but also didn't want any false hope. It would be wonderful if she could prevent his death, but then what? Supposing that she could defy the linear structure of time, they could never be together if he survived. He would be an old man even before she was born. He just couldn't think of a way to make everything work out. In desperation, he pulled her closer. Being together like this was enough for him, but would it be for her? Dying a virgin certainly had its disadvantages. He quickly pushed that thought from his mind.

"This whole situation just seems hopeless," he admitted, "Can't we take advantage of the time we have?"

Rosette laughed. "Sure, we can take advantage of it. Lets start by going to buy groceries, the fridge is almost empty."

"I'm was being serious."

"Me too. It would probably be a good idea for me to drive into town and check my mail again too." She stepped back and took his hands. With a smile, she squeezed them gently. "Come with me?"

Chrono shook his head, letting out a small laugh. "Fine. But I have to go get changed so that I can keep Joshua's clothing to sleep in. With all the rain we've had, it won't take long for the clothes to get dirty."

"You wont get dirty if we take the car," she said, and then remembered that he couldn't travel in cars when he raised an eyebrow. "Right, I'd forgotten about the car thing."

Chrono shook his head, chuckling softly. "I don't see how you could, we've just been going over how abnormal I am. But it would be nice to go out. I think we could both use a change of scenery. Wait for me while I get changed."

With that Chrono let go of her hands and left the room. She watched his retreating back as he headed up the stairs, idly appreciating Joshua's clothing on his slightly more muscular frame. Thinking about Joshua reminded her that she hadn't talked to him in a while. She probably should phone him to see how he's doing. And if ever things didn't work out in the past, she needed to talk to him one last time. She had complete faith in Chrono's ability to send her to the past safely, but she didn't trust Aion one bit. The more she learned about Chrono and the details surrounding his existence, the more she realised how dangerous her situation was. Aion was the one manoeuvring her as though she were a pawn, and she was beginning to realise how much her well-being depended him, which wasn't a reassuring thought. She had to blindly play whatever role he had scripted for her, and hope that he wasn't leading her to her death. She also had to hope that she could be fast enough on her feet to recognize the antagonist and outsmart this person by herself. But more than anything, she really hoped this play had a happy ending.


	12. The Devil You Know

AN: Hey guys. I can't believe it's been 5 years. Five whole years. Cinq ans. Cinco anos. Five effing years. Awesome readers have PMed me over the years to ask if I was alive, and I kept thinking 'Of course I am, I'm working on it.' Then I look at my calendar and realise I've been saying that for a really, really long time. So basically this chapter has been on my hard-drive, unfinished, for half a decade. In that time I moved three times, graduated university, wrote a thesis (about Japanese monsters and capitalism! Take that stuffy EAS department!), finished grad school, got my hopes and dreams crushed by minimum wage jobs despite having two degrees, moved to Japan, started teaching English to junior high school students, lived through the Tohoku Earthquake (my town shook the hardest!), started new hobbies, and met new friends. A lot has changed in my life, as I'm sure all of yours have too. I'm not interested in anime all that much anymore, but my desire to write and finish my stories hasn't gone away!

I don't know how many of you guys are still interested in this fic… I had to reread it myself to make sure I don't forget to tie up all the loose ends, and I cringe at my bad writing. A lot of us get pickier about our fic selections with age, and so I'm terribly sorry for those who reread this and think it's awful!

That being said, I hate to leave this fic unfinished, especially since I know how it's going to end! Chapter 13 and the Epilogue have been in my head for the last 7 years, but this chapter has been my Achilles Heel. I'm not happy with it, but I figured it's necessary to post it in order to get to the ending. So please forgive me, I know this chapter wasn't worth the wait! I hope there's still interest for Shades of the Past, and I will try my best to have the last chapters up at regular intervals.

* * *

**Chapter 12 – The Devil You Know**

_New York State 1929_

"Chrono, would you like some tea?" Pandemonium smiled from the office doorway, carrying a tray weighed down with tea things. Chrono looked up from his paperwork, startled by the nearly silent intrusion.

"Ah, thank you Pandemonium," Chrono murmured. At this, Pandemonium swooped in to place the tray on the corner of his desk. She fussed with it for a while before looking at him. As soon as their eyes locked, Chrono felt a slight pressure at the back of his mind.

"Chrono, really, that's much too formal for family. Haven't we been together long enough for you to consider calling me 'mother'?"

Chrono nodded but said nothing and quickly broke their eye contact. This wasn't a new discussion. He'd brushed her off before, but she was becoming more forceful. He didn't know how much longer he could refuse her. He always left such confrontations with a headache.

Two years ago, soon after Mrs Lilith Black had passed away, his debt-laden father and his mistress had returned to the countryside. Aion had mused that they wouldn't be able to hide from their New York creditors for long, and unfortunately, as usual, he was right. Rough-looking men managed to find them at Black Manor, and the demands for payment were never pleasant.

Chrono knew that his father and Pandemonium had planned to marry as soon as possible, but despite his new status as a widower Mr Black couldn't convince any of the nearby pastors to perform the ceremony. All the neighbouring parishes knew that Mr Black had abandoned his pregnant wife barely a year into their marriage to travel alone in Europe. They also knew that he had found himself a mistress and fathered another son with her only two years after Chrono's birth. But by far the biggest scandal the region had ever seen was when Mr. Black finally came home in 1920, only to leave his bastard son to be raised by his lawful wife.

And there was no chance that the old village pastor would perform the ceremony. The old pastor took this gossip very personally as a sign of his own inability to lead his flock. After all, Mr Black had lived in the village since he was a child. The old pastor had baptized him, and watched him grow up. There had been no sign of this evilness until the man's trip to Europe. Like most Americans, the sudden wealth and exposure to alcohol must have corrupted him, the pastor thought. It was his own fault for not preparing the man's soul for such temptations.

So when Mr. Black approached him with his mistress to get married again, the old man feigned deafness, illness, or made some other outrageous excuse to avoid marrying them. Although Mrs Black had recently passed away in 1927, and the old pastor had no real excuse to avoid marrying them, he stubbornly refused. Mr Black eventually got tired of being turned away and settled for hoping the old man would die soon.

Unfortunately for Mr Black, the old pastor out-lived him.

Mr Black must have caught a disease while on his travels, because he died in 1928, barely a year after his wife. Everyone was surprised by the suddenness of the death, but no one was particularly upset about it. Not even Pandemonium, who had spent thirteen years as the man's mistress.

Aion was convinced that Pandemonium was somehow responsible for their father's death. He often told Chrono that their father's soul, while initially strong, had gradually gotten weaker and more fragmented. Pandemonium somehow had eaten away at his soul to the point that he couldn't go on living. Chrono wasn't sure if Aion was being poetic, or if his half-brother had really looked into their father's soul and seen parts of it missing.

Either way, Chrono agreed with Aion that there was something frighteningly powerful about Pandemonium. She was strangely charismatic and instantly likable to those with no demonic ancestry. Two years ago the village matrons had hated her, now they worshipped her like a queen. Almost the whole village called her Mrs Black, even though they all knew that she was unmarried and had lived in sin.

Chrono took Aion's warning very seriously and did his best to avoid Pandemonium.

Unfortunately, now that Chrono was old enough to control the family finances, she often came looking for him

"Ever since your dear father passed away I don't know what to do with myself. Perhaps we could go on a trip to the coast?" Pandemonium smiled sweetly and added sugar to Chrono's tea.

Pandemonium tried her best to befriend Chrono and Aion, presumably to solidify her already precarious position in the Black household, but never really succeeded. Aion hated her with a fierceness that surprised Chrono, considering how loving his brother had been with Chrono's own mother. But Chrono knew that Aion's powers made him a good judge of character. There was something overly sweet in Pandemonium's smile, and it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"How are the accounts dear? It's such a shame that my darling husband left you with so much work to do. He tried so hard to turn this family's fortunes around before he died." Pandemonium smoothed away an invisible wrinkle in her sequined dress as she said this.

Chrono suppressed the urge to sigh. Why was it that he always felt like an employee rather than the Black family heir? Their monstrous debt and whatever money was left after he took care of it was his, not hers. And why was she so interested in the accounts? He wouldn't turn her out of the house if that were what she was worried about.

Chrono resisted the impulse to remind her that their uncertain financial situation was thanks to both her and her 'darling husband'. Aion would have told her flat out that they were broke, and to shut the hell up. He also would have added words starting with 'F' and 'B' to that sentence. Chrono sometimes wished he could express himself as clearly as his younger brother, but maybe without the vulgarity.

"There are no more creditors that need to be paid, if that's what you're worried about." Chrono put his pen down and leaned back into the leather chair, his spine cracking as he did so. He had sold off almost all their assets to do it, but there were no more shopkeepers from New York City driving into the countryside to harass them. Chrono had sold off most of their businesses and real estate. They would have to live modestly, with very few servants and nothing extravagant, but in a few years maybe they would be able to buy back some of their businesses and build back their fortune. This was of course assuming that the rumours of the market crash were untrue. The Black family didn't have any stock market investments left, but Chrono wasn't sure how well their finances could recover during a recession.

"That's wonderful dear. Maybe we can go to the summerhouse in the Hamptons then. Wouldn't that be lovely?" Pandemonium smiled sweetly and leaned over to look at Chrono's paperwork.

"The property in the Hamptons was sold. Along with all the other properties. We can't afford summer homes anymore," Chrono shuffled the financial papers and placed them in a neat pile on the corner of his desk, away from his father's former mistress.

Pandemonium blinked, clearly taken aback. "What do you mean? Of course we can afford it."

Chrono suppressed his irritation of the word 'we'. There was no reason to get upset at Pandemonium. She just didn't understand how dire their situation was.

"During your ten year stay in Europe and then your four year stay in New York City, you and Father accumulated more debt than the estate could afford. I had to sell everything of value, including the summer homes. All we have left is the house, and a small property in San Francisco. We will be living modestly from now on." Chrono tried to smile and sound reassuring, but he was too exhausted to care about offending Pandemonium. There was no way she could continue to spend their money as though there were an unending supply of it. This was the end.

Pandemonium stepped away from his desk and locked eyes with Chrono. "But surely you wouldn't deny my a few luxuries."

Chrono held her steady gaze. There was a sharp pain in his head, and Chrono felt the beginning of a headache manifesting itself, but that was probably because of all the paperwork. "I'm sorry Pandemonium, we really do need to live within our means from now on."

The blond-haired woman clearly didn't like the resolution she saw in Chrono's eyes, because her smile dropped and her gaze became harder than usual. "But once you marry Magdalene there will be money again. We will be able to afford a car, like the neighbours have."

"We don't need a god-damn car. It would be almost as much of a money pit as you are," Aion was leaning against the doorway, covered in mud. He had probably been helping the gardener cover the shrubs for winter. "We don't need fur coats, we don't need more paintings, we don't need a Parisian chef to cook for us, and we don't need you. You aren't wanted or needed here. Why don't you go find another rich stupid husband to drain dry?"

Chrono suppressed a groan. Just what he needed after a long day of looking at crippling debt: a family fight.

"And Magdalene isn't some cash cow. We wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you. You're nothing but a parasite, it's thanks to your that we're trapped in this hell," Aion continued, icy violet eyes focused on his mother. "You get no more say in how the Black money is spent. We'll be determining our own future from now on."

Pandemonium's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. Chrono had never seen her look so dangerous. The fake smile and genteel varnish was momentarily stripped away, and all that remained was a woman who was used to getting her way. A woman who would tolerate no real opposition.

"I am your mother and you are fourteen years old. You are not out of my influence yet." Pandemonium said simply and looked coldly at both Chrono and Aion. Without another word, she strode out of the room. Chrono and Aion watched her leave silently. Chrono was used to Aion smirking or laughing after a particularly nasty confrontation with his mother, but this time Aion was dead serious, his frown making him look older than fourteen.

"Don't eat or drink anything she gives you from now on," Aion said as he advanced towards Chrono's desk. He threw the scone and jam in the wastebasket and tossed the tea out the open window into the rose bushes. Chrono was bewildered by his half-brother's actions but didn't protest. "Don't think for one minute that she wont try to get rid of us to take back the 'Black Fortune'. She's used to getting what she wants, and we're in her way."

"She's your mother," Chrono protested, "And there is no 'Black Fortune'. It's gone!"

"Don't be naïve. She's capable of anything, and she won't stop until she's drained us completely dry. And your Mama was also my mother, don't you dare think otherwise," Aion growled out.

The fourteen year old set down the teapot with a clatter and launched himself into the chair facing Chrono's desk. He propped his muddy boots on the smooth and shiny surface, and Chrono had to scramble to pull the financial documents out of the way. "You should have kicked Pandemonium out as soon as our hack of a father died."

"I couldn't do that," Chrono murmured as he tried to clean some dirt off an invoice for something ridiculously expensive and unnecessary that Pandemonium had needed. "That would have been unkind."

"If we don't get rid of her she will control us until we die," Aion glared at his older brother. "And if she can't control you, she'll get rid of you. If I were you, I'd use your powers to go back to the day our Father died and toss her out of the house. Hell, I'd go back in time to make sure he never met her!"

"It doesn't work that way. And you're talking as though she was some gangster that could make people 'disappear'," Chrono ran his fingers through his black hair, and looked at the now empty plates with a sigh. "Besides, let's consider this for a moment. What would she do if we weren't here? Even if we did have money, she doesn't have the legal standing to take it."

"That wouldn't stop her. She has the whole town bowing and scraping. They all call her Mrs Black even though they know she never married our father. I don't think it would be impossible for her to gain control of the family finances. Who would really be able to stop her? Especially if she plays her 'concerned parent' card." Aion dropped his feet to the ground and planted both hands on Chrono's desk. He stared down his nose at his brother. "I think I know what her demonic power is. She can manipulate souls."

Chrono sighed and put all the paperwork away in his desk drawer, locking it with a key. The sixteen year old wanted to believe the best about those living under his roof, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. "That's assuming she has any demonic ancestry. We have no idea where she comes from."

Aion shook his head, "You know as well as I do that she must have demonic powers. There's no way I'd be able to see into people's souls otherwise."

"I know that demonic powers are transferred almost exclusively from the maternal bloodline, but it's possible that you got your powers from Father, isn't it?" Chrono murmured, "There's a possibility that she's an ordinary human."

Aion was silent for a moment, looking deep into his brother's eyes. After a few moments, Chrono could no longer handle the scrutiny and looked away, breaking the eye contact. Aion sat back down into his chair and smiled an angry little smile. Chrono knew that smile meant nothing good.

"You're lucky I can read your heart," Aion sneered. "If I wasn't able to read into your heart, I would think that you were just a naïve idiot. But you believe me. You're playing the devils advocate, but deep down you know that I'm right. You know that Pandemonium has demonic powers. You've seen how easily she manipulates weak souls. And even more importantly, you know that she's dangerous."

Chrono was silent, which was all the confirmation that Aion needed. The platinum-haired boy's face softened. His older brother was kind and gentle, but he wasn't an idiot.

"Why don't you time-freeze her? We could keep her body in the cellar. It would be safer to keep her out of the way until we're both eighteen. You heard her earlier: I'm still a minor, so she still has some legal sway over me."

Chrono's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. I can't time-freeze her!"

"Why not?" Aion insisted, "How would it be different from freezing injured horses or servants until the doctor arrives? We wouldn't be killing her, just freezing her until we're old enough to be completely out of her reach. Oh! I just thought of something! We could freeze her, and then get out of the country. That would be the smart thing to do."

"I can't do that Aion. How could we hide her away? Where would we put the body?" Chrono anxiously looked at the half-opened office door. "This house is saturated with demonic energy, so we couldn't possibly keep a body here. If we did, there's a chance that the ambient demonic energy would influence her. I've only frozen things for a few hours or even a few days... any longer and who knows how this house would affect my powers."

Aion raised an eyebrow and looked rather impressed, "I can't help but notice that you've already given this a lot of thought."

Chrono looked away and sighed. "I have. But I hadn't thought about time-freezing Pandemonium."

"Dare I ask?" Aion's interest had been stirred. He leaned forward and rested his elbows in his knees. "Who were you thinking of time-freezing?"

"I wanted to time-freeze Mama. I keep thinking that maybe if I had frozen her, then some doctor in the future would be able to figure out what was wrong and cure her." Chrono admitted sadly.

Aion's expression softened, as it often did when Chrono mentioned Mrs Black. Although Aion had grown from an angry little boy into an even angrier teenager, he had loved Mrs Black with unparalleled devotion. She was the only one exempt from his harsh words, from his sneers. He had treated her with a loving gentleness that shocked everyone who knew him. Although the Black brothers were as different as night and day, they seemed to be united in their love for their mother. "She wouldn't have wanted that. Mama had seen the future and knew that it was her time."

"I know," Chrono admitted, "but wouldn't it be nice if she were here to tell us what we should do?" He pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time.

Then Chrono closed his eyes and reached a hand forward. Energy started to glow around him, weaving between his hand and the watch. Slowly, so slowly that no one would notice if they weren't paying attention, the second hand on his watch slowed until it stopped completely. Chrono opened his eyes and glanced at the watch, pleased to see that he had successfully frozen time. Those outside his office would be frozen until he released them.

"I'm going to check to make sure no one overheard our conversation," Chrono set the pocket watch down on his desk and stood up. "I think I heard Pandemonium go upstairs, but it's better to be sure."

Aion nodded and watched as his older brother stepped out of the room. Reaching forward, Aion took Chrono's pocket watch. The platinum-haired boy glanced at the frozen face and set it back down on the desk, eyeing it speculatively.

"We don't have much time left, do we?" Aion murmured, his expression dark. "I hope I get to hand out the killing blow."

* * *

_Present Time_

"I'm trying to get all the demonic power business straight here", Rosette closed the fridge and turned to Chrono, who was seated at the kitchen table. "So you got your powers from your mother. She could see the future, and you can control time."

Chrono nodded. The early morning sun filtering though the window made him look almost ethereal. The effect was ruined by Joshua's sweatpants and the slightly too small t-shirt, but Rosette liked it that way. It made him look real and alive. "Yes. Powers are matrilineal and normally related. Our powers had to do with time: Seeing through time, and controlling time."

Rosette nodded and bit into an apple, "And your half-brother Aion could see into people's souls. That's why you think that your stepmother's powers had to do with souls. So she might literally have been a soul-eating bitch?"

Chrono tried to keep the corners of his lips down but didn't quite succeed. Rosette shot him a wide mischievous smile, which he returned with a fond expression.

"I wouldn't have put it in those words, but you're probably not wrong. Aion and I noticed that she normally got what she wanted a little too easily. We think that she was able to bend weak minds to her will with eye contact, and tear out souls with physical contact."

"So when I go to the past, I need to stay the hell out of her way. Got it." Rosette smiled and sat down next to Chrono, letting their legs brush together.

It had been a week since she had found the 'memory' unconscious on the kitchen floor. Although he had been weak and almost incorporeal at first, Chrono was now even stronger than before the power failure. This was both good news, and very bad news. It was good news because Rosette's boyfriend was back to being substantial. It was bad news because it meant that whatever was locked in the cellar was also getting stronger.

"What about Magdalene? What was her power?" Rosette suppressed the twinge of jealousy she felt when she talked about Magdalene. The woman had been beautiful, and also had been Chrono's fiancé.

"Her powers were to amplify any other powers. My powers were always much stronger when she was with me." Chrono replied in a factual kind of way that set Rosette's jealous heart at ease. He certainly didn't sound like a guy still mooning over his lost fiancé. And besides, the poor girl had ended up being married to Aion Black. That fact alone earned her some sympathy points.

"So it would be helpful to have her around to send me back in time, wouldn't it?" Rosette sighed, thinking of Magdalene's resting place: the Black Family mausoleum. Weren't women supposed to outlive men? It hardly seemed fair that Aion Black was still in perfect health even though he was nearly a hundred years old, while his wife was sealed away in that graveyard. Why did she die so young?

"The more you use your powers, the shorter your lifespan becomes. And because women with demonic powers are usually more powerful than the men, they normally die younger." Chrono answered Rosette's unspoken question as though she had spoken it out loud.

Rosette looked at him speculatively over her apple. "You read my mind again, didn't you?"

Chrono's knee bumped into hers as he shifted in his seat. He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, you were thinking very loudly."

Rosette took another slow bite out of her apple and chewed on it, scrutinizing Chrono as she did so. "Aren't you weirded out that you have some of Aion's powers? And they seem to be getting stronger."

Chrono shrugged. "I still don't remember the events leading to my creation, but I'm fairly certain that Aion was involved."

"I don't like the sound of that," Rosette muttered, "I wonder if he knows you exist?"

Chrono cringed and looked away. Having known Chrono for a while now, Rosette didn't miss how guilty he looked. Whatever Chrono was hiding, she knew she wouldn't like it. But since it involved her evil boss, there was no way she was going to let Chrono keep his secrets.

"What aren't you telling me?" She put her apple core down on the table and turned her chair so that it was facing his. Chrono seemed to shy away a little at this, but she trapped one of his knees between hers. "If you know something, you should tell me. There's no use keeping me in the dark. You really should come clean before I go to the past."

Chrono seemed to struggle internally at this, and looked everywhere but her eyes. She leaned forward and placed both her hands on his knees. His legs were uncharacteristically twitchy under his sweatpants. This didn't bode well.

"Tell me." Rosette repeated firmly.

Chrono took a deep breath and seemed to be trying to steel himself. "I can use telephones."

This wasn't what Rosette had been expecting. Thrown off, she blinked. "What?"

Chrono took another deep breath and kept avoiding her eyes. "The post office had telephones installed before I died, and I often had to phone my father's creditors in New York City. I can use a telephone."

"That's great Chrono, but what does that have to do with anything?" Rosette asked, genuinely confused. "It's not as if you could call anyone. Who would you call?"

Chrono was silent. Dread filled Rosette's stomach as she realised that she probably really wouldn't like the answer to that question.

"They would have to be an acquaintance from when you were alive."

He nodded once, and seemed to be trying to blend in with the wall. This couldn't be good.

"You called someone you know. Who do you know that's still alive?"

Both were silent while Rosette mulled over this information. It couldn't be anyone in this town, since most people were too young to have known Chrono. Maybe he could have called the post-master, but what would have been the point?

Then the answer seemed to click into her brain like two lego pieces.

"No."

"Rosette, please don't be angry..." Chrono started, but shut his mouth quickly when he saw he murderous expression.

"You wouldn't betray me like that."

"Even if you don't trust Aion, please trust me," he reached forward for her hand but she pulled it away before he could take it.

"Why have you been calling Aion? Why did you lie about it?"

"I didn't lie about it... I just didn't mention it because I knew you'd be angry."

"Angry doesn't even begin to cover it," Rosette pushed her chair back and stood up, putting the table between them. "What the hell have you been telling him?"

"Nothing!" Chrono protested, hurt that she didn't trust him. "I just called him after you had fallen into the river. It seemed like the right thing to do. He told me never to call him again and that he would take care of your medical bill. And then yesterday while you were out grocery shopping he called the house. He said that you have to use the watch in the graveyard. That's it, I swear!"

Rosette stared him down, but this time he didn't avoid her eyes. He looked back at her earnestly, as though willing her to look into his heart to see that it was the truth. Her jaw clenched and unclenched several times as she tried to calm herself down.

Chrono's phone call would explain why Aion had been in the hospital when she woke up. It hadn't been pleasant to have her evil boss see her in a hospital gown that didn't cover her ass. It hadn't been pleasant to have to face the Spanish Inquisition as soon as she woke up. But now that she thought about it, he had been asking about Chrono and making sure she had seen him. Aion definitely knew that Chrono existed.

And the more Rosette considered it, the more she realised that she really wasn't that upset that Aion had come. After all, she wouldn't have been able to afford that hospital bill.

"And that's all?" she asked, her tone promising painful things to the one who lied to her. "You haven't talked to him other than those two times?"

"I swear to you that I haven't." He held her gaze and reached out a hand placatingly. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rosette shifted her weight to her other foot. "How did you know his number? And why did you act as though you couldn't talk to him?"

"I don't know why I didn't tell you. I guess I should have, but I was afraid of your reaction." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I memorized Aion's number off your phone the first night you slept here. After Joshua brought you to the hospital I used the phone in the barn to call him. I wanted to just leave him an anonymous message saying that his employee had been involved in an accident, but he knew who I was the second I spoke. He told me he never wanted to speak to me again, so that was the end of it."

"And yesterday?" Rosette asked, crossing her arms. Her expression wasn't as stormy as it originally had been, but she wasn't ready to forgive him quite yet.

"I should have told you about his call as soon as you came home, but..." Chrono trailed off with a sigh.

"But?" She tapped her foot impatiently. Chrono sighed again and stood up. Slowly, he walked around the table to stand in front of her. Once he was certain that she wouldn't punch him, he reached out and put both hands on her shoulders. Almost reflexively she relaxed and seemed to lean into his touch.

"I didn't want to mention going into the past. I was hoping we could stay together a few more days, and I was afraid that if I mentioned Aion's message, that you would want to go to the past right away."

"You're probably not wrong." Rosette grumbled, uncrossing her arms, "But you should have told me anyways."

"I know," Chrono admitted, pulling her closer, "I'm sorry."

She sighed and all her anger seemed to melt away. She took a step closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. "We can't avoid it forever. I need to go soon. Tomorrow maybe."

"I know."

"The more we wait, the more powerful the thing haunting this house becomes."

"I know."

"Once I go back, we'll finally know who killed you." Rosette whispered. Chrono buried his face in her hair and tightened his arms around her.

"We won't ever be able to be together like this again." He was glad she couldn't see the bitter smile that graced his features. "Everything will change."

"Don't be silly. I'll figure out who killed you, and then I'll come back here. Nothing has to change." Rosette took a step back and took his face in her hands. "We'll still be together."

Chrono reached a hand up to cup hers. He leaned into it and closed his eyes, savouring her certainty and her warmth.

"I'm getting stronger than I've ever been. That means the barrier won't hold what's in the cellar for much longer. Maybe it'll even develop a corporeal form. You have to go to the past soon. You're right. We've put it off long enough."

Rosette frowned, "From the way you're talking it's as though you think something horrible is going to happen."

"I have no idea what's going to happen, and that frightens me. We have to put our trust in Aion, and I'm not sure I trust him with your safety." Chrono admitted, kissing her palm.

A shudder ran through her body. She didn't know whether it was from Chrono's warm breath on her hand or from the thought that Aion Black held her life in his hands. "It's true that I really don't trust Puppet Master Aion Black. He has all this information and just dangles it out of our reach."

She pulled Chrono's face closer to her own and kissed him tenderly. She pulled back and gave him her best confident smirk. "But you don't have to trust Aion. Put your faith in me. I'm going to kick ass and take down names."

"I don't doubt it," Chrono murmured. "I'd feel better if you brought a gun with you though."

"I found an old Glock and its ammunition at the antique store yesterday. I didn't only bring home groceries."

Chrono smiled and captured Rosette's lips with his own. He pulled her tightly against her body and didn't protest when her hands roamed a little lower than his back.

"It doesn't matter what the past throws at me. I'm going to win." She whispered harshly when they finally broke apart.

"I believe in you."

Somehow, to Rosette, those simple words were better than any confession of undying love. This serious, intelligent, gorgeous boy trusted her. Her, Rosette Christopher. An orphan with no real future, who had nearly failed high school, and until coming to Black Manor hadn't had two pennies to rub together. Who was better at getting into fights and manual labour than anything else. She felt like she had been waiting her whole life to hear someone say those words.

"The past won't know what hit it."


End file.
